Under this agreement, the three organisations will jointly identify and support two to four early-stage startups
The Foundation for Science, Innovation and Development (FSID) at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore has entered into a strategic partnership with the Mysore Royal Family-led Cyberverse Foundation and deep-tech firm Pantherun to fortify India’s cybersecurity ecosystem. The tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed recently in Bengaluru, establishes a specialized framework to identify and incubate early-stage cybersecurity startups beginning in early 2026. The signing ceremony was attended by Smt. Trishikha Kumari Wadiyar, Chairperson of Cyberverse Foundation, Prof. B Gurumoorthy, Chief Executive of FSID, and Mr. Srinivas Lakshman Sekhar, Founder and CEO of Pantherun, in the presence of Sri. Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, Chairman of the Advisory Board at Cyberverse Foundation.
Under this agreement, the three organisations will jointly identify and support two to four early-stage startups, providing critical assistance in technical validation, operational support, market access, and regulatory navigation. The partnership leverages a unique “triple helix” synergy: FSID offers its academic mentorship and STEM cell incubation environment; Cyberverse provides specialized laboratory infrastructure and skill-development modules in Mysuru; and Pantherun—itself an FSID-incubated success story—contributes domain expertise in hardware-anchored encryption and seed-stage financial support.
Prof. B Gurumoorthy highlighted that cybersecurity is a vital area for national security requiring deep science-based innovation. He noted that while early-stage innovators are essential contributors, they often struggle with limited infrastructure and systematic market validation. This partnership seeks to eliminate those barriers. Smt. Trishikha Kumari Wadiyar emphasized the initiative’s role in empowering student entrepreneurs and positioning Mysuru as a central hub for cyber innovation and secure digital infrastructure.
As the industry partner, Pantherun will scout for promising ventures, offering guidance on product development to ensure solutions are robust and ready for critical deployment. Mr. Srinivas Lakshman Sekhar described the collaboration as a decisive step toward advancing India’s secure digital infrastructure by helping founders build scalable, hardware-anchored security solutions. By combining academic research with real-world validation, the initiative aims to build a sustained pipeline of indigenous deep-tech innovations, moving India closer to technological sovereignty in an era of evolving global threats.
