IIT Palakkad Director A. Seshadri Sekhar (fifth from left) interacting with Buimerc India Foundation officials after signing an MoU for social entrepreneurship at Palakkad on Wednesday.
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Palakkad’s Technology IHub Foundation (IPTIF) has partnered with Buimerc India Foundation to introduce an entrepreneurship support programme focussed on social innovation. The initiative aims to foster social entrepreneurship in Kerala, with plans to expand its reach nationwide.
IIT Palakkad Director A. Seshadri Sekhar and Buimerc India Foundation chairperson R. Balachandran signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) here on Wednesday.
Buimerc director Sabita V. Balachandran, Buimerc’s social initiatives head K.V. Vinayarajan, IPTIF officials Saishyam Narayanan, Rijesh Krishna and Rajeswari were present.
IIT Palakkad officials hailed the collaboration as a milestone in strengthening the State’s tech innovation ecosystem focussing on social impact.
The programme named DISHA (driving innovative solutions for humanitarian advancement) will support start-ups and innovators developing socially impactful tech solutions in key areas like health-care, rural development, sustainability and digital inclusion.
It will help entrepreneurs through expert guidance, initial funding and access to top class facilities. Ten Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EiR) fellowships will get mentoring and prototyping support.
It will also offer Buimerc Nava Disha Award to three social change makers from Kerala.
Prof. Sekhar noted that the partnership demonstrated IIT Palakkad’s focus on socially impactful innovations, enabling entrepreneurs to create lasting impact with Buimerc India Foundation’s support.
IPTIF is a section-8, not-for-profit company of IIT Palakkad supported by the Central Department of Science and Technology under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS) programme.
The IPTIF promotes deep-tech innovation, entrepreneurship and translational research with a focus on hardware acceleration and its applications for societal benefit.
Buimerc India Foundation, headquartered in Kochi, is the philanthropic initiative of Buimerc group. It supports programmes in child welfare, health-care, geriatric care, empowerment of the differently-abled, environmental conservation, animal welfare and education.
Published – September 10, 2025 08:55 pm IST