FSID Joins Cyberverse & Pantherun to Boost Cyber Startups

• FSID at IISc has partnered with Cyberverse Foundation and Pantherun to support early-stage cybersecurity startups from 2026
• Selected startups will receive incubation, training, lab access, mentorship, funding and market support
• The collaboration aims to strengthen India’s cybersecurity innovation ecosystem

The Foundation for Science, Innovation and Development (FSID) at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has partnered with Cyberverse Foundation and Pantherun to offer a joint support to new cybersecurity startups in India by signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU).

The three-party agreement was formally executed by Trishikha Kumari Wadiyar, Cyberverse Foundation Chairwoman; Prof B Gurumoorthy, FSID Chief Executive; and Srinivas Lakshman Sekhar, Founder & CEO of Pantherun, while Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, Chairman of the Advisory Board of Cyberverse Foundation, served as a witness.

According to the MoU, the three parties will work together to find, incubate and coach two to four companies that are at the very early stage of cybersecurity technology, starting from the year 2026. The ventures that are chosen will get comprehensive support that consists of technical validation, operational guidance, market access, regulatory assistance, and access to funds.

The cooperation merges the FSID's STEM Cell incubation program and academic ecosystem, Cyberverse Foundation's training and cybersecurity laboratory infrastructure, and Pantherun's industry knowledge and market access.

The FSID's STEM Cell will provide support in terms of infrastructure, mentorship, faculty involvement, industry linkages, and grants. The Cyberverse Foundation will be in charge of training and skills development, will provide laboratory access, and will conduct incubation and accelerator programs.

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Pantherun will be responsible for discovering and assessing startups, offering seed funding, and helping with product development and market entry.

Prof B Gurumoorthy, Director at FSID stated, “Early-stage innovators face barriers in guidance and mentoring, limited access to advanced infrastructure, and the absence of systematic technical and market validation pathways. Through this MoU, we will address their challenges”.

“We are happy to collaborate with FSID to empower young entrepreneurs, researchers and first-time founders by providing access to training, laboratories and an enabling ecosystem to build scalable cybersecurity solutions”, added Trishikha Kumari Wadiyar, Chairperson of Cyberverse Foundation.

Srinivas Lakshman Sekhar, Founder & Chief Executive of Pantherun noted, “The challenges facing early-stage cybersecurity innovators are complex and demand both deep technical expertise and real-world validation”. 

The partners said that the collaboration is aimed at dealing with the difficulties that are faced by early-stage cybersecurity innovators, creating a strong pipeline of security-focused startups, and by means of a coordinated, long-term support, strengthening India’s digital security ecosystem.