MUMBAI, March 7 -- Nearly two decades ago, a small group of engineers at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) began experimenting with advanced automotive control systems inside campus laboratories. What started as a research idea developed by a handful of students and a professor is now poised to deliver a windfall of nearly Rs.55 crore to the institute's startup incubator- as the company prepares to enter the public market. The company, Sedemac Mechatronics, is set to launch an initial public offering (IPO), marking a major milestone not just for the Pune-based deep-tech firm but also for IIT-B's startup ecosystem. The institute's incubator, the Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE), currently holds about 4.08-lakh shares in the company. At the upper end of the IPO price band of Rs.1,352 per share, the value of this stake is estimated at around Rs.55-crore. The listing highlights how research ideas born inside university laboratories can grow into large commercial ventures over time. Sedemac Mechatronics develops advanced electronic control systems used in automobiles. The company traces its roots to research projects conducted at IIT Bombay in the early 2000s and was founded by former students of the institute working closely with faculty members studying automotive control technologies. In startup terminology, Sedemac is an "incubated company", a venture that begins within a university or research institution and receives early support such as mentorship, technical guidance, workspace and access to funding networks before growing into an independent business. The company is led by Shashikanth Suryanarayanan, a professor in the mechanical engineering department at IIT Bombay, who serves as its managing director. Suryanarayanan completed his PhD at the University of California, Berkeley and played a key role in shaping the company's vision. According to him, the seeds of the company were planted through research projects carried out at IIT Bombay between 2004 and 2007. "I ran two successful IIT Bombay projects between 2004 and 2007. One was on fuel-injection in two-wheelers and the other was steer-by-wire for cars," Suryanarayanan said. "The prototypes surprised leaders in the automotive industry because a small group from an academic institute in India managed to build systems where large corporate teams had struggled." Encouraged by the success of these projects, the research team decided to continue working together beyond the academic environment. "That made me think it would be a good idea to keep the core group together. I could not think of any other structure but a for-profit company. We set out to build fresh control technologies and seek widespread adoption, and that is what we continue to do," he said. Sedemac was co-founded by IIT Bombay alumni Pushkaraj Panse, Amit Dixit and Manish Sharma, who had earlier worked with Suryanarayanan during their time at the institute. Turning a research idea into a commercial enterprise was not easy. One major challenge was developing original control technologies capable of competing with established global automotive suppliers. "Without first-in-the-world control technologies, no vehicle manufacturer will take you seriously because they already have long-standing suppliers like Bosch," Suryanarayanan said. Convincing large automobile manufacturers to adopt technology from a relatively small and unknown company was another hurdle, as automakers typically rely on suppliers with long records of reliability. Funding for deep-tech startups was also limited in India during the company's early years. Today the company is focusing on technologies linked to the rapidly growing electric vehicle market. "We already sell motor control units in significant numbers, and they are growing rapidly," Suryanarayanan said. Shireesh Kedare, director of IIT Bombay, called the development a proud moment for the institute. "The journey from our campus labs to the public market shows how sustained incubation support can turn research ideas into global technology companies," he said....