The collaboration aims to help high-potential academic research translate into scalable societal solutions in areas of national priority.
NEW DELHI (India CSR® ): Wadhwani Foundation and the Gates Foundation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen India’s innovation ecosystem through the National Innovation Network (NIN), a national-scale extension of the Wadhwani Innovation Network (WIN).
The partnership is focused on enabling translational research and entrepreneurial innovation in areas of high societal impact, including health, nutrition, biotechnology, genomics, medtech, and other emerging sectors aligned with India’s development priorities.
As part of the collaboration, the Gates Foundation will support five NIN Centres of Excellence (CoEs) over five years, beginning with two Centres this year.
The supported NIN CoEs will help researchers advance innovations beyond laboratory-stage research (TRL-4+) toward real-world deployment through proof-of-concept development, prototyping, validation, pilot deployments, IP and commercialization support, venture creation, and industry partnerships.
Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 29, 2025, the Wadhwani Innovation Network (WIN) was established by the Wadhwani Foundation to bridge academia, industry, and funding partners, accelerating research-to-market pathways in India. NIN now expands this model at a national scale.
Since its launch, WIN has supported over 50 high-potential projects across healthtech, medtech, biotechnology, and quantum technologies, and established Centres of Excellence at leading institutions including IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Kanpur, IIT Hyderabad, IIT(ISM) Dhanbad, Indian Institute of Science, and C-CAMP. Two upcoming Super Hubs include the Wadhwani School of AI & Intelligent Systems at IIT Kanpur and the Wadhwani Health & Bio Hub at IIT Bombay.
NIN expands this approach into a broader collaborative platform that enables government agencies, philanthropies, CSR initiatives, corporates, and institutional partners to support translational research and innovation through a shared operational and governance framework developed by the Wadhwani Foundation.
Speaking about the collaboration, Dr. Ajay Kela, CEO & Board Member, Wadhwani Foundation, said, “WIN has demonstrated that India’s innovation potential can be unlocked when researchers, institutions, industry, and capital come together with a shared mission. Through NIN, we now have the opportunity to democratize innovation across India and help position the country as a global leader in innovation — enabling more institutions, researchers, and entrepreneurs to translate breakthrough ideas into products, startups, and societal impact. We are delighted to collaborate with the Gates Foundation, a pioneer and leader in healthcare innovation, in advancing innovation-led solutions in areas critical to India’s future.
Speaking about the partnership, Archna Vyas, Director, India Country Office, Gates Foundation, said, “Some of the most consequential health and nutrition innovations of the next decade will originate in Indian institutions. Our collaboration with Wadhwani Foundation will help support the opportunity and possibility for these innovations by investing in translational pathways that can enable India’s research talent to move ideas from discovery to deployment. We see this as core to the Gates Foundation’s work in India: supporting Indian researchers and entrepreneurs to turn promising science into affordable, scalable solutions, that translate into impact outcomes, for India and the Global South.”
NIN aims to establish 250 Centres of Excellence (NIN CoEs) across India over the next three to five years through partner host institutions, each focused on enabling translational research, researcher entrepreneurship, venture creation, and commercialization in areas of national priority. Together, NIN seeks to help translate thousands of ideas annually from labs to market and society — accelerating innovation-led socio-economic impact while creating millions of jobs and livelihoods.
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