By Tanmay Sharma
Photo Credit: The Suncity News
Nice, France, June 15, 2026: London-based consumer technology unicorn nothing has announced the signing of two strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with IIT Roorkee and the Foundation for Science, Innovation and Development (FSID)at the Indian Institute of Science during the Bharat Innovates 2026 summit held in Nice.
The agreements were formalized during the global innovation event attended by Piyush Goyal, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, Ajay Kumar Sood, and Harish Salve, former Solicitor General of India.
The MoUs were signed by Akis Evangelidis, Co-founder and India President, Nothing, alongside K.K. Pant, Director of IIT Roorkee, and Govindan Rangarajan, Director, Indian Institute of Science.
Bharat Innovates 2026, organized by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, serves as an international platform to showcase India’s emerging deep-tech startups before global investors, corporations, policymakers, and research institutions.
Held ahead of the G7 Summit, the event highlighted India’s expanding role in global innovation, research, and advanced technology development.
Nothing and IIT Roorkee are focusing on innovation, product engineering, and entrepreneurship:
Speaking on the collaboration, Akis Evangelidis said the next phase of Indian innovation would emerge through stronger partnerships between academia, entrepreneurs, and industry stakeholders.
According to the company, the collaboration with IIT Roorkee will focus on mentoring future innovators through expert lectures, industry case studies, entrepreneurship guidance, deep-tech innovation programs, and product engineering and electronic design exposure.
The partnership will also explore an Industrial Design Challenge aimed at providing students and emerging innovators with hands-on experience in consumer technology design and innovation.
Collaboration with IISc-FSID to support startups:
Under its partnership with the Foundation for Science, Innovation, and Development at the Indian Institute of Science, Nothing will work closely with startups incubated within the IISc ecosystem.
The collaboration is expected to include startup mentorship programs, networking opportunities, pilot and commercial collaboration exploration, industry exposure initiatives, guest lectures and training sessions, and potential visits to Nothing facilities.
Strengthening India’s deep-tech ecosystem:
.K. Pant said the partnership reflects IIT Roorkee’s commitment to building stronger industry-academia collaborations capable of driving innovation and entrepreneurship.
The partnerships are being viewed as part of nothing’s broader long-term commitment to India’s innovation ecosystem and align with efforts to accelerate deep-tech entrepreneurship, research commercialization, and global collaboration.
By combining academic research, startup ambition, and industry expertise, the initiative aims to help equip India’s next generation of innovators with the mentorship, exposure, and technological ecosystem needed to develop globally competitive technologies.
EOM.
