Centre for Research on Start-ups and Risk Financing (CREST) has been set up by IIT Madras to provide thought leadership and intellectual impact to the start-up and innovation ecosystem. CREST has embarked on an ambitious mission of becoming one of the top global research centres in the area of start-ups and innovation. The core of CREST is the development of an AI-driven Intelligent Information Platform that would enable cutting edge research as well as influence policy and practice like never before. With the recent exponential growth in the start-up and innovation ecosystem, new data-driven approaches would play a critical part in sustaining the current growth curve. The objective of CREST would be to become the gold standard of information and intelligence on Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Private Equity investments in India.