IHH Healthcare and Fortis launch ‘IHH Catalyst’ to strengthen India’s healthcare innovation ecosystem

Fortis will play a central role in enabling startups to work closely with clinicians and hospital teams across its network

In a major step aligned with the Government of India’s Startup India and innovation-led growth agenda, IHH Healthcare, world’s leading multinational healthcare provider, in partnership with its subsidiary Fortis Healthcare, has announced the launch of ‘IHH Catalyst | Fortis India Edition’, a national healthcare innovation platform designed to accelerate the deployment of patient-centric, technology-enabled solutions across India’s hospital ecosystem. 

The initiative is part of IHH’s broader innovation strategy and was first introduced in October last year as the IHH Global Incubator. Now formalised and launched as ‘IHH Catalyst’ in partnership with Fortis, the programme seeks to bridge a critical gap in India’s healthcare innovation journey, moving promising health-tech and med-tech startups beyond pilots and proofs-of-concept into real-world clinical validation, hospital adoption, and scalable implementation.

Anchored within the Fortis Healthcare network and supported by Plug and Play as the programme partner, the platform will leverage global innovation expertise and structured startup engagement to accelerate execution. 

IHH Catalyst | Fortis India Edition has been structured to directly address this gap by providing startups with access to clinical expertise, hospital infrastructure, and defined pathways for validation and scale.

The platform will focus on execution-ready startups that demonstrate strong relevance to hospital workflows, patient outcomes, and operational efficiency, ensuring innovation translates into measurable healthcare impact for India.

As the India anchor partner, Fortis will play a central role in enabling startups to work closely with clinicians and hospital teams across its network, ensuring innovations are tested in real-world settings and aligned with clinical realities.

Selected startups will receive:

• Mentorship from IHH and Fortis leadership, clinicians, and functional experts
• Opportunities to pilot and validate solutions within live hospital environments
• Support across regulatory readiness, data protection, cybersecurity, and interoperability
• Clear pathways toward long-term partnerships, scale-up, and potential investment

The programme will follow a multi-stage selection and evaluation process. Key milestones for the inaugural cohort include:

• 10 February 2026: Programme launch and call for applications
• 25 March 2026: Announcement of selected cohort
• 2 July 2026: In-person Demo Day in Gurugram

Published on : 11th February, 2026