Ten Incubation Cells to Look Out for in India

For an uninitiated and aspiring entrepreneur any support is a boon. Be it help in the form of funding, guidance or even the majorly important mentoring from the people who aptly can. Incubation Centres provide support and guidance to the new generation of entrepreneurs and help them during the initial turbulent times. Incubation Centers, basically provide entrepreneurs with the required programs and resources.

All the major institutions in India house an incubation centre. Apart from such incubators, there are a lot of private players in the field. Currently there are about a 100 incubation centres supported by ISBA (Indian STEPs and Business incubator’s Association). Here is Inc42’s list of the top ten incubation cells in India:

1.      Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrpreneurship, IIM Ahmedabad

Set up by IIM-A in collaboration with Government of India and Gujarat Government,  Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrpreneurship(CIIE) provides incubation, support and mentoring to innovative entrepreneurs. CIIE comprises of IIM-A faculty, students, alumni and various participants from different industrial sectors. CIIE has invested and incubated in over 50 ventures across hi-tech sector and is continuously providing guidance to the entrepreneurship scene in general by providing guidance and mentoring through various initiatives. CIIE has incubated start-ups in cleantech, social impact and various other areas.

2.      Indian Angel Network

Set up in collaboration with National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board and the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India; IAN is an equity based incubator. IAN gives priority to sectors like healthcare, animation, cloud, alternative energy, mobility and retail. Incubates include schoolsdmissions.in, APA Technologies, Saudaagar.

3.     SIDBI Innovation and Incubation  Centre, IIT Kanpur

Selected for the National Award for Technology Business Incubators for the year 2011, SIIC has been set up in collaboration with SIDBI. SIIC aims at fostering entrepreneurship in technology based areas. Incubate companies include Messiah labs, Adyta systems, Handshake Infotech.

4.      Technopark Technology Business Incubator (T-TBI), Kerala

T-TBI was established in 2006 with the support of Government of Kerala and till date has successfully incubated over 60 companies. In 2011, T-TBI became the first Indian Organization to achieve the status of World’s best software incubating company. T-TBI provides 4 million square ft. of built up office space for use by the new and upcoming entrepreneurs. It also provides legal consultancy, marketing guidance and financial aid to the start-ups.

5.      Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, IIT Bombay

SINE is a technology based incubator which came into existence in 2004. SINE has incubated start-ups like Webaroo technologies, and ThinkLABS Technosolutions. Various start-ups incubated by SINE have gone to raise VC funding of up to a whooping Rs. 3 Crore!

6.      Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurship Development, Indian School of Business (ISB)

The Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurship Development was formed by Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurship Development in ISB Hyderabad. This facility was set up in 2001 and in 2008; it launched the business incubator inside the institute. Although the Wadhwani Centre allows only students of ISB to develop their ideas, it has till date successfully incubated 17 start-ups ranging from technology based ventures to niche management consultancy firms.

7.      Seedfund

Seedfund is an early-stage VC having an incubator facility based in Mumbai. It began in 2011.
The startups receive a funding from Seedfund to begin working on the idea and using their office space. On graduating from the Seedfund incubator, the startups receive funding from Seedfund itself. Some of the companies that have been incubated at Seedfund include My Dentist, a comic book startup called Level 10 Entertainment.

8.      Angel Prime

Relatively new entrant in the incubator community, AngelPrime was launched recently in 2011 in Bengaluru. The areas that AngelPrime aims to incubate in are mobile payments, e-commerce and smartphone / tablet apps. AngelPrime believes in incubating their ventures at their office guiding and mentoring the start-ups constantly. It has already begun incubating a mobile payments company and a smartphone and tablet startup.

9.      Centre for Technology Business Incubator (TBI), BITS Pilani

TBI was established in 2002. It has, till date incubated 15 companies. While most of the companies set up are by the alumni of BITS Pilani, its virtual incubator program helps people outside their campus. The startups receive funding via government agencies. TBI can house 10-12 companies in its office space. IT also has tie-ups with Sequoia capital and Indian Angle Network which help in incubator receive funding at an early stage.

10.  National Design Business Incubator (NDBI)

Set up by NID with the support of Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt. of India, NDBI provides an environment to designers so that they could cultivate their ideas into successful competitive businesses. IT provides physical as well as virtual incubation. Incubates include Sangaru Design Objectives, Mayavi Telecom etc.

[Photo Credit: Akhil Pawar, See more of his work here]