IIT Kanpur startups demonstrate deep-tech at Connect 1.0 Demo Day

On a bright morning at IIT Kanpur, the campus buzzed with a practical kind of optimism. The C3iHub, born from India's NM-ICPS push and backed by the Department of Science and Technology, rolled out its Startup Demo Day, Connect 1.0. Five incubated startups stepped into the spotlight, showcasing products that sit at the crossroads of surveillance, cybersecurity, and blockchain forensics. It wasn't just a showcase of clever prototypes; it was a tangible push toward an ambitious national strategy: build homegrown, market-ready solutions that harden India’s digital and physical security.

Drones take center stage

• Eliminator, by Aerosys Aviation India Pvt. Ltd.: a Kamikaze drone described as a precision-strike system designed to navigate GPS-denied environments through advanced autonomous navigation. In today’s security landscape, where adversaries often jam signals to disrupt tracking, Eliminator is pitched as a tool that can sustain movement and decision-making even when GPS is unreliable. Think of it as a stubborn, determined asset that keeps its course when the map goes dark.
• TEJASVAAN, by Maraal Aerospace: a high-altitude, solar-powered unmanned aerial system built for ISR missions. With an endurance target of around 12 hours, TEJASVAAN promises extended surveillance and data collection over large swaths of terrain. In practice, that could translate to long-range reconnaissance flights, real-time data streaming, and quicker situational awareness for security forces.

These drones aren’t just gadgets; they’re statements about capability. In disability of external supply chains and geopolitically sensitive supply routes, domestic drones with autonomous navigation reduce exposure to external vendors and give defense and internal security agencies more predictable procurement timelines.

Digital forensics and cyber defense on the menu

• SecureTrace from SecureDApp: a blockchain-forensics platform designed to track and investigate illicit transactions in real time. As cryptocurrencies become more intertwined with financial crime, traceability—when it happens fast enough—can be the difference between catching a fraud ring and watching a trail go cold.
• BlackFence from Saptang Labs: a proprietary cyber-threat intelligence platform aimed at protecting enterprises and government agencies from fraud, phishing, impersonation, and brand abuse. BlackFence is pitched as a proactive shield—scanning the digital landscape for fraud vectors before they strike.
• RCS by xIoTz: a Regulatory Compliance and Standards platform that helps businesses adhere to a growing tangle of global and industry-specific security mandates. In a world where a single misstep in compliance can stall a product or trigger penalties, RCS is pitched as a navigator through the maze of rules and standards.

If you’re wondering how these tools play with each other, imagine a coordinated defense-in-depth stack: drones gathering situational intelligence from the air, while blockchain forensic tools triangulate financial trails, and cyber-threat intelligence platforms squint at the digital horizon for emerging attack patterns. The chain from airborne ISR to cyber analytics to compliance is shorter here than you might think, thanks to the same ecosystem backing all of it.

The ecosystem behind the launches

The event is a lens into a broader ecosystem IIT Kanpur has built around deep-tech for cybersecurity and allied fields. C3iHub operates under NM-ICPS and is managed with support from the Department of Science and Technology. The goal—accelerating research into market-ready solutions—shines through in the numbers: nearly 49 startups supported across five cohorts, more than 52 commercialized products, and a steady stream of patents granted. The hub’s work hasn’t gone unnoticed; it was recently elevated to a Technology Translational Research Park (TTRP), signaling a long-term commitment to turning cutting-edge research into real-world impact.

That support matters. Five startups at Connect 1.0 didn’t have to go it alone: mentorship, seed funding, and access to IIT Kanpur’s research facilities provided a runway that many early deep-tech ventures only dream about. The government’s role, meanwhile, is more than ceremonial. Elevation to TTRP is a signal of intent—investing in a pipeline that blends research excellence with practical application, particularly in cybersecurity and related fields.

What this means for India's sovereignty and future

There’s a case to be made that these five launches are as much about national strategy as they are about business success. When domestic players develop autonomous drones and cyber-defence tools, the country reduces exposure to external suppliers and geopolitically sensitive chokepoints. It’s not about closing doors to foreign tech entirely; it’s about shifting the balance—keeping critical capabilities within a trusted, homegrown ecosystem that can be tuned to national-security needs.

But here’s the thing: building a sovereign tech stack is as much about governance as it is about gadgets. The five products showcase a spectrum—from hardware platforms that require rugged engineering and field testing to software that must withstand real-time threat intel and regulatory scrutiny. The bridge between R&D and market adoption is a long one, often littered with funding cycles, regulatory compliance hurdles, and the messy realities of defense procurement. IIT Kanpur’s C3iHub has positioned itself as a bridge builder, not just a lab bench.

The bigger picture is equally resonant. As the nation seeks to demonstrate leadership in the global deep-tech arena, the ability to rapidly translate research into practice becomes a strategic asset. The synergy among government, academia, and industry—an explicit thrust of Connect 1.0—could lay the groundwork for broader collaborations that extend beyond drone demos and into everyday digital infrastructure, from crypto-regulation to enterprise cybersecurity and beyond.

Final take

The five launches at Connect 1.0 aren’t just products; they’re signals of a maturing tech ecosystem in India. The drones hint at a growing domestic military-civil fusion capacity, while the cybersecurity and forensics tools point to a future where digital sovereignty is something you can actually build. If this momentum persists, India’s deep-tech scene could move from showcase events to a robust pipeline of commercially viable, security-centric innovations that are designed, tested, and deployed at home. The road ahead is long, but the direction is clear: a more self-reliant, secure, and innovative future.

Sources

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