NewzVille Desk
AIIA-iCAINE, celebrated the sixth Foundation Day, with the launch of a national innovation challenge in Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Ayurveda, the signing of two strategic Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), the launch of an Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Facility for Ayurveda and a capacity-building workshop on entrepreneurship and design thinking.
Addressing the gathering,Prof. Vd. P. K. Prajapati, Director, AIIA, highlighted the incubator’s continued efforts to promote innovation, strengthen industry–academia collaboration and translate Ayurvedic knowledge and research into practical solutions, products and enterprises.
“Over the past six years, AIIA-iCAINE has undertaken several initiatives to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in Ayurveda. The incubator has supported 52 problem statements and mentored more than 100 startup ideas. Furthermore, nine startups have received seed support of ₹3 lakh each, helping them advance their entrepreneurial journeys,” he added.
The highlight of the celebration was the launch of AyushTech Innovate: National Open Ayurveda AI Challenge, organised by Techfest, IIT Bombay, in collaboration with the Ministry of Ayush and AIIA.
AIIA-iCAINE signed two strategic MoUs to strengthen research, innovation and commercialisation in Ayurveda.
The MoU with the World Ayurveda Foundation (WAF) will facilitate the establishment of “AI in Ay – Secretariat for Artificial Intelligence in Ayurveda”, a collaborative platform to advance AI-driven research, innovation and entrepreneurship.
The MoU with Reliance Retail Limited (Pahadi Local) will facilitate the translation of classical Ayurvedic knowledge into commercially viable skincare products through formulation advisory.
Another key development was the launch of the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Facility for Ayurveda, aimed at promoting awareness of intellectual property protection and helping Ayurveda innovators and entrepreneurs understand the importance of safeguarding their innovations as they progress towards product development and commercialisation.
The Foundation Day activities also included a capacity-building workshop on branding, pricing strategies and design thinking for Ayurveda ventures.
Other highlights included a briefing on the Smart India Hackathon (SIH), the launch of the Techfest Hackathon, the release of Ayupreneur: A Beginner’s Glossary and the release of grants to the SIH 2025 winners.
