Startup Incubation – Dutch Uncles

Startup Incubators, Defined

Shalmoli Sarkar — Sat, 17 Jul 2021 05:35:08 +0000

There have been several such instances where we see that a plant or seed is kept in a special chamber with measured quantities of light, nutrition, moisture and ventilation, etc. That special chamber is the incubator, whose job is to create a favourable environment for a plant’s optimum growth.

Similarly, the road to entrepreneurship is a bumpy one. A new startup when envisioned just has an idea but in order to bring it to fruition, we need startup incubators to give direction to a startup’s business idea till it matures.

What is a Startup Incubator?

A startup incubator is a collaborative programme that creates a favourable environment for the startups to learn, understand, question, offer resources and get mentorship about the progression of their startup idea in the real world. Incubators are generally non-profit organisations that are run by either private or public entities.

A startup incubator benefits an entrepreneur by providing them with workspace, mentoring, training on business essentials, offering tips to network with industry veterans, approaching seed investors, marketing, etc.

Startup incubators are often associated with premier institutes such as BITS Pilani, IIT Madras, IIT Delhi and other B-Schools or are launched by successful entrepreneurs and renowned companies.

Services Provided by an Incubator to Startup

Here are some of the services that a startup will avail once associated with an incubator:

Networking opportunities

Through networking, new startups can develop strong professional relationships with leaders, professionals and other successful startup entrepreneurs within the industry. Networking benefits a new startup to gain contacts, referrals, new business opportunities.

Help with business basics

Since all the budding entrepreneurs might not have a commerce or MBA background, incubators can power them to understand the basics of finance management, human resource management, operations and supply chain, etc.

Marketing resources

Startup incubators will assist startups regarding marketing and PR strategies and select the best channel of marketing.

Access to Angel Investors and venture capitalists for funding

Startup incubator provide startups with access to funding opportunities by developing investor relations or programmes that facilitate the transfer of funds. Incubators have numerous partners that work to assist the startups in access to funding and other invaluable resources.

Helping with Business Etiquettes and Presentation skills

To generate interest in the minds of investors, startup founders should be thorough with presentation skills and maintaining the right body language and business etiquette to create the right impression.

Comprehensive business training programmes

Startup incubator host regular business training programmes for startups with a focus on topics such as future forecasting, business fundamentals, how to obtain funding, legal structures and quick prototyping.

Favourable working space with High-speed Internet access

Startup incubator offer a proper working space for startups with high-speed internet connectivity, since renting an office space is expensive. The working spaces can be either shared one or a private office or a single cubicle.

Intellectual property management and legal counsel

Startup incubator help startups highlight the weaknesses or vulnerabilities in their startup model, therefore helping them to file patents and other formalities to safeguard intellectual properties like logo, web design, special recipe or formula, etc.

Access to bank loans, loan funds and guarantee programmes

Several banks and financial institutions are connected with incubators to offer easy access to bank loans, funds and guarantee programmes.

Management team identification

Based on the offerings of a startup, incubators will provide the necessary guidance to startups about building the right workforce with the right talent and skillset.

Help with regulatory compliance

Development of a product or service might not be enough as it needs to observe regulatory compliance, in local, national, or universal legal requirements or restrictions. Incubators provide startups access to experts in these fields.

Accounting/financial management assistance

A startup incubator can help startups with the necessary financial planning. In this way, the startup can manage their financial resources which will be well utilized.

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A startup incubator is a collaborative programme that creates a favourable environment for the startups to learn, understand, question, offer resources and get mentorship about the progression of their startup idea in the real world.

Top 10 startup incubators in India

Here is the list of top startup incubators in India:

Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship by IIM Ahmedabad

It focuses on startups operating in information communication technology, cleantech, and social.

Amity Innovation Incubator

Focuses on rural innovation and social entrepreneurship, information and communication technologies, edtech, biotech, and material sciences.

AngelPrime

Based out of Bengaluru, it focuses on areas like mobile internet, e-commerce, and tablet/mobile app.

IAN Incubator

Its focus areas include IT/ITES, telecom, mobile VAS, gaming and animation, internet/web, media and entertainment, education technology, healthcare technology, manufacturing products, alternative energy, clean technology, cloud computing, and retail technology.

Indavest

It focuses on startups creating innovative solutions in E-commerce, mobile applications, customised gifting and branding solutions, and software products.

Khosla Labs

It focuses on mobile payment & banking, retail efficiency, healthcare delivery, and big data analytics.

Nadathur S Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning(NSRCEL) by IIM Bangalore

It is an open incubator that does not focus on any area.

Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Park, Technology Business Incubator by IIT Kharagpur

It has no focus areas.

Seedfund

It is a physical startup incubator based out of Mumbai that focuses on consumer Internet, e-commerce, sports, education, healthcare, financial services, analytics, services, and online ticketing.

Srijan Capital

Focuses on e-commerce, SAAS, mobile, social media, and consumer internet.

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All you Need to Know About CREST

Shalmoli Sarkar — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 08:35:04 +0000

Amid a sliding economy and a negative consumer sentiment, several Indian startups rose to the occasion to join the unicorn bandwagon in the pandemic. 2020 has witnessed the 12 startups gaining unicorn status. Right at the beginning, 2021 saw 6 startups clinching the unicorn status within 4 days in the month of April raising funds worth $1.55 billion.

Although India has emerged to be a breeding ground of startups, a report from IBM titled ‘Entrepreneurial India’ states that 77 percent of the venture capitalists feel that Indian startups lack innovation in developing new technologies or unique business models. Indian startups are devoid of originality and replicate western business models. The ventures built on the foundation of global startup ideas shall increase the market value but lower the entry barrier increasing competition.

Lack of innovation in business models signals that the research and development arm of startups in India requires support from industry veterans, past case studies and other experienced professionals- This led IIT Madras to launch CREST (Centre for Research on Start-Ups and Risk Financing).

Why was CREST formed?

Besides business models lacking innovation, a startup struggling to sustain can be attributed to executives not receiving adequate mentoring from experienced leaders of established companies, incubators, and investors. Although numerous startup accelerators have been formed in India as part of public-private partnerships, mentoring typically remains informal.

The mission to hone the research skills of startup founders led IIT Madras to form CREST to provide academic and thought leadership in innovation, entrepreneurship and risk capital.

Benefits of CREST

CREST aspires to become a globally recognised centre providing scholarly research in the areas of creation, development and financing of innovation, start-ups and entrepreneurship.

It aims to offer cross-country collaborative research, resulting in the use of unique data sets on start-ups and venture capital that will help in breakthrough findings.

Its entrepreneurship-specific language models will facilitate a better understanding of the entities in the ecosystem while facilitating the use of the latest research in artificial intelligence and machine learning to generate new insights.

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A report from IBM titled ‘Entrepreneurial India’ states that 77 percent of the venture capitalists feel that Indian startups lack innovation in developing new technologies or unique business models.

What Will CREST Do?

Through this initiative, IIT Madras is planning to develop a world-class data repository on Indian startups and ventures to be made accessible to researchers and policymakers that can result in top-tier publications and aid in research and development.

How can startups benefit from CREST?

India’s journey to becoming a $5 Trillion economy by 2025 is drawing policymakers on three main pillars i.e. Innovation, venturing and entrepreneurship for the startup ecosystem to nurture.

The establishment of STPI’s Centre of Excellence to provide incubation facilities has been a fillip to startup activity in India.

CREST’s evidence synthesis based on the repository of unique data sets of Indian startups and ventures will help generate new business insights for the incubators, investor networks, startups and government missions therefore, creating an infrastructure conducive for high-quality research.

Entrepreneurs for usual trust-building cannot solely depend on the law, regulatory oversight and government projects but require a change in mindset that focuses not just on creating startup ideas but also on the condition to create.

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Why are Leading Ladies of Bollywood investing in Start-ups?

Naina Sood — Fri, 12 Mar 2021 08:35:03 +0000

Bollywood actresses have donned the role of an investor in the Indian start up ecosystem, going beyond endorsements. While many of them are strategic investments where the actors pick up an equity stake in the company in exchange for promotions, marketing and PR, there are also many who are betting on start-ups purely as an investment exercise.

The high-risk return equation in case of start-up investment is no more deterring celebrities from investing in this space. From Aishwarya Rai to Priyanka Chopra, Bollywood divas are signing big cheques for start ups.

A Financial Cushioning & Brand Association

This is a well-known fact that Bollywood actresses have short-lived but lucrative careers, which requires them to make smart investment choices. Most of them work with dedicated wealth managers and rely on their business acumen and experience to make a go of it. Start-ups as a space have been blooming over the past decade with celebrities continuously associating themselves with the same in some way or the other.

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Celebrities are aware of start-ups growing brand equity and becoming an investor seems like a logical step and not a blind bet.

Don’t Want To Be Just The ‘Face’

Mallika Arora had joined global stars like Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez to invest in an Indian yoga fitness chain startup, Sarva. The investment made sense for Arora, a fitness icon, as she wanted to associate herself, beyond endorsements, with things she’s passionate about. She was presented the opportunity and took no time to grab it. Similarly, Deepika Padukone, who has been promoting nutrition and health-consciousness among youth, placed her bets on Drums Food International Pvt. Ltd, which sells yogurt under the brand Epigamia.

Investing in a start-up today is seen as a way of encouraging visionary minds and being closely associated with developing business. Start-ups investments are allowing leading actresses to be more than just the face of a certain brand. “What I look for is companies/brands that are clutter-breaking and, more importantly, the ones that are going to add value to the development of our country. We have so much talent today that I feel proud to see some of the home-grown startups. What I look for is investing in that kind of vision,” Padukone had said during the announcement.

Not A Blind Bet

Both Katrina Kaif and Alia Bhatt had decided to become partners in beauty retailer Nykaa, which recorded a revenue of Rs 1,860 Cr in 2020 and growing at an unprecedented rate. Both the Bollywood divas were aware of the company’s growing brand equity and becoming an investor seemed like a logical step and not a blind beauty bet.

Shilpa Shetty, who is a seasoned entrepreneur, wellness ambassador, an experienced mother, invested around 1.6 crores in FMCG start-up MamaEarth. The actress had a personal involvement with the products and decided to be a part of the business. For female celebrities, the idea is to “add some kind of value”. Start-ups are proving to be an exciting space for every kind of investor. The
innovations, products, offerings and ideas are reaping sound results in the start-up ecosystem and everyone wants a share of the same.

Like everyone else, actresses, too, want to secure their future. That way, they are no different than any common person.

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How Punjab Government is Empowering SMEs with Sadda Karobaar, Punjab Di Shaan Program?

Naina Sood — Tue, 23 Feb 2021 00:35:04 +0000

In a bid to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in improving their productivity, efficiency and profitability and scale their businesses faster, the Punjab government had recently launched the Xcelerator Ludhiana – Sadda Karobaar, Punjab di Shaan program. This six-month business accelerator program, which started on 5 January 2021, is led by the Government of Punjab, Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings (CICU) and Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME).

With this programme, the Punjab government is geared up to provide the much-needed handholding for mass entrepreneurs and strengthen the overall entrepreneurship ecosystem in the state. Ludhiana, which has core-sectors like agri-tech, textiles, healthcare, light engineering, auto components, has been chosen as the first location for the program. This pilot of Xcelerator will set the base for the expansion of the program across different districts of Punjab.

The program had received over 450 applications from growing businesses across Ludhiana and after a rigorous selection process, 27 entrepreneurs were invited to participate in the first cohort. Businesses with annual net revenue of Rs 2 crore – Rs 10 crore, and manufacturing, trading and export businesses with annual net revenue of Rs 10 crore-Rs 50 crore are eligible for the program.

Overview of the program

The program is spread over six months, facilitating hands-on training with the best trainers and practitioners from India, peer-to peer learning and mentorship focussed on ‘3C’- customer, capacity and cash. All the 27 entrepreneurs selected in the first group are enrolled in workshops on customers, techniques on working with large clients, building an energetic team and getting international collaborators for their businesses.

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With sector specific workshops and sessions, the experts and mentors are in constant touch with the entrepreneurs who can seek advice and understand its implementation.

An opportunity to scale up, build network

The entrepreneurs are able to share their issues and understand how they can take care of the shortcomings. For instance, someone in the automobile sector looking to grow business is advised on introducing new incentive schemes for dealers to motivate them to increase sales while incentivising timely payments instead of penalising late payments. With an emphasis on scaling up, the entrepreneurs are trained on understanding their current business reality to create a 2-3 year business plan, training on hiring processes and onboarding of the new people into the organisation.

With sector specific workshops and sessions, the experts and mentors are in constant touch with the entrepreneurs who can seek advice and understand its implementation. There is also an opportunity to build a network within the city and the state.

A lot of small businesses and entrepreneurs are now able to strike better conversations with customers and are able to scale up. A lot of them have taken their lead generation on to social media platforms and are able to connect with their regional and national customers. They are able to multiply their leads.

What’s in it for me?

The application for this six-month program has been closed as of now. However, since the program is pan-Punjab, the government would soon announce applications for the next chosen city/district. For more updates, visit the website of GAME.

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Seed Funding: The Wind for Your Start-Up to Sail Forward

DU Desk — Sat, 16 Jan 2021 08:32:28 +0000

It was a week just before Diwali during early 2000 that a young technology professional Phaneendra Sama, working in Bangalore was eagerly looking forward to the holiday break and being back with his family to celebrate the festival in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. Given the holiday rush, he went through a tough situation in getting tickets for the bus travel from Bangalore to Hyderabad. That started his thinking and he ideated about creating a platform to connect the travel service company with travellers. That was the origin of RedBus, a platform which is in use on a high frequency day in and day out. Sama had this brilliant idea and along with his few friends, who believed in the idea, started developing an aggregating platform for bus service providers. With a small team in place and at a common shared apartment, Sama started the venture and when he wanted to consolidate and expand his idea, he needed some platform which would give him basic funding or seed capital.

He approached a fund called Seedfund in Bangalore, a fund which specializes in offering start-ups seed funds. The fund managers, who were seasoned professionals, believed in the idea of Sama and provided seed capital to take the idea to the market and then grow it further.

And with that funding, Sama built India’s largest bus service aggregating platform which was later acquired by Naspers at a valuation of US$300 million. The idea was great and the seed capital from fund managers who gave an important support played a long way in Sama developing the product.

Seed capital or funding for entrepreneurs in the early stage of their journey is extremely critical and there is heightened focus from various reputed funds as well as professionals who have built organisations, created wealth for the ecosystem and who are willing to back bright ideas from the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Seed funding in the recent past has got into a structured format with many funds focusing on this much ignored aspect. However, even as the structure of the funds and how it has been administered was being crystallised, there are many individual high net worth accomplished professionals who are supporting bright entrepreneurs. The individuals are termed as Angel Investors, who come with significant experience in structuring the idea with sharp Go-To-Market strategies and bring in a wealth of experience in building the business.

Infosys Co-Founder Kris Gopalakrishnan, Tata Sons head Ratan Tata are notable among angel investors who are actively involved in the seed capital segment. It is an immense boost for fledgling investors who are looking to take wings and when you as a start-up have such reputed names as investors, it is a good step forward.

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Every great idea needs legs to help it stand up in the world of business, this is where seed funds come in.

How Does Seed Funding Work?

Seed fund is the investment which an entrepreneur raises after the idea has been firmed up and the process of execution of the idea has been initiated. Entrepreneurs have bootstrapped their start-ups to an extent and are now looking to add wind to their sails. It can be through a network of family members or from friends who are willing to back your idea in exchange for a part ownership in your start-up.

Beyond that circle are your professional mentors, seniors in your organisation if you are working and you have a good working relationship with them or it can be through the angel investors. If you have the adequate network to approach established corporate honchos. Seed fund-stage investors work with entrepreneurs to build a solid foundation and prepare for growth via funding, strategic and operating support, providing critical connections and securing growth capital to validate market potential. This aspect of providing a stepping stone for start-ups to stabilise their idea, sharpen the structuring, and crucially using their seed fund/angel investors networks to gain access to the next stage of venture capital funding is how seed capital is extremely critical to start-ups.

How Is The Seed Funding Segment Maturing?

Since the early 2000s, the segment of seed funding has seen significant progress. The concept of having a good network of established angel investors was initiated by a networking group called ‘The Indus Entrepreneurs’ (TiE), which acted as an immersive networking platform for budding entrepreneurs and established angel investors. Well-known entrepreneurs turned angel investors such as B.V. Jagadeesh who had built organisations of repute in the Silicon Valley in the United States started to spread TiE network in India and it is now present in almost all major entrepreneurial hubs of India.

TiE has been playing an important role since the early 2000s in finding the next big idea in the Indian ecosystem, channelling focus, firming up business plans and building a bridge between angel investors and entrepreneurs.

Drawing parallels from the TiE platform, the pool of angel investors has been growing admirably in the Indian subcontinent and today there are more than 20 angel networks in India which have built good credibility.

When a start-up gets to work with angel networks, the advantages are numerous. Entrepreneurs get to leverage a global investor and funding base, gain insight and feedback from a diverse investor group, access a network of mentors and advisers with industry-specific expertise and connection and access to global markets through member networks across the globe.

Seed funding empowers entrepreneurs at all stages from incubation, throughout the entrepreneurial lifecycle. With a global reach and a local focus, these established networks have extensive resources to dip into foundational programs, Mentoring, Networking, Education, Funding and Incubation. Start-ups have a wealth of experience to leverage their ideas on. The aspect of networking and getting connected is an important element which start-ups can leverage on. With amazing networking effects, these networks connect the entire entrepreneurship ecosystem from early-stage entrepreneurs, serial entrepreneurs, professionals at leading corporations, venture capital, angel investors, thought leaders among others.

The angel networks have been maturing and there are various chapters and focus which has emerged. Young entrepreneurship, Women Entrepreneurship and Social entrepreneurship programs, Special Interest Groups, Deal Flow meetings, are some of the focuses which have been thriving in the recent past.

Professional Funds

Seeing the emergence of this as a good asset class of investing, there is an emergence of professionally managed seed funds which has been established and there are more than 15 well-managed funds which are active in India. These professional fund managers act on behalf of investors in their funds and attempt to make a visible difference in backing early-stage companies.

With a little money and a lot of attention these seed fund managers plug the gap in the ecosystem. By providing guidance, perspectives, ideas and connections. According to industry analysts, seed funds do not just fund your start-up, but are a professional partner to help navigate as start-ups prepare for and achieve growth.

In addition to providing capital, seed funds provide you extensive value-added support through its team, partners, other portfolio companies, investors, industry and ecosystem networks. These funds provide support on business development, business operations, fundraising and strategic recruiting in addition to building plans to get to Series-A funding round.

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Seed funds do not merely fund your start-up, but are a professional partner to help get the business stabilise in the initial stages of the launch.

Incubators To Seed fund

The angel investors who are active in the entrepreneurial ecosystem have been parallelly working on finding the next big idea at many universities and are going aggressively to fund students who are keen on their entrepreneurial journey from an early stage in their careers. Indian Institute of Technology in Chennai and Mumbai have been extremely active in attracting angel investors and they have dedicated specialised tracks to pursue start-up journeys.

N.S. Raghavan, co-founder of Infosys, has set up an incubator program at Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, where entrepreneurs, academicians and industry experts come together to create an impact in the start-up ecosystem.

With support from government agencies, corporate and institutional partners, this centre provides a platform to successful and budding entrepreneurs running profit and non-profit ventures by creating access to training and seed funding.

With programs specifically catering to entrepreneurs with profit ventures and social ventures, also student and women entrepreneurs, this centre offers its support to various players of the start-up ecosystem.

The centre brings together start-ups, industry mentors, eminent academicians from its parent institution Indian Institute of Management Bangalore and researchers who thrive on continuous interaction of theory and practice.

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How STPI plans to leverage tech incubation

Shalmoli Sarkar — Sat, 26 Dec 2020 04:30:48 +0000

In the past few years, the Indian start-up ecosystem has witnessed an unprecedented rise in tech-focused start-ups. The greater appetite for technology, data, and deeper internet penetration has birthed thousands of start-ups to address unique problems and has challenged the conventional way of doing business, and has created new segments. According to NASSCOM, the year 2019 has added 1300 new tech start-ups to the existing count of 8900-9300 tech start-ups, making India the third-largest start-up ecosystem in the world. The pandemic crisis has created a bleak future for the budding Indian tech start-ups as they are currently staring at financial losses due to the non-availability of funds.

As per a survey by a social media and community platform LocalCircles, only 16 percent of start-ups and SMEs have cash to sustain for more than three months. To help start-ups stay afloat in the pandemic the STPIs will float a venture capital fund to support start-ups & entrepreneurs from the tier II and III cities to launch new technology products. This scheme will support around 300 start-ups for the next three years by offering Rs 25 lakh risk capital and Rs 10,000 internship per start-up.

The aspiring entrepreneurs who are about to set their foot in the start-up ecosystem are in despair as the willingness of the investors would be more to conserve cash and not invest in new ones. But for a start-up to thrive, there is more to it than just receiving funds. Proper guidance, mentorship, and infrastructure facilities are required for the new-born start-up or idea to survive.

Here, incubation for the tech start-ups comes to the rescue.

How STPI helps the tech start-ups for incubation?

Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) is an autonomous society set up by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. STPIs in association with industries and premier institutions has established CoE (Centres of Excellence) to create the next generation of entrepreneurs in the emerging sectors of technology like the Internet of things (IoT), Blockchain, FinTech, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented & Virtual Reality (AR/VR), Electronic System Design and Manufacturing, Medical Electronics and Healthcare, Gaming and Animation, and Machine Learning, etc. These CoEs act as incubators for the tech start-ups by providing them the platform to do research, technology development, product development, technology incubation, and entrepreneurship by offering them the required resources and assistance.

What STPI has in store for tech start-ups?

Marketing and networking

The entrepreneurs are nobody when they begin. Apart from building an innovative product, the entrepreneur should also know to maximize reach and awareness about their brand and the product. CoE conducts sessions of general marketing and social media marketing, organizes roadshows, and international events to increase global visibility, the visibility created in the events helps to connect with future investors. Its partnership with key international promotional agencies will aid in cross border collaboration.

Technology and business mentoring

The CoEs provide education and training to the start-ups in the field of research, user experience, and business technology courses through cutting edge programming and deep tech applications. For conversion of a start-up idea to reality, they assist in the development, enhancement, and designing of the pilot project. They help to transform a start-up from idea level to Prototype level, Prototype level to MVP (Minimum Viable Product) level, MVP level to GTM (GoTo Market) level and help graduate the start-ups to full-fledged company status. They also conduct need-based mentoring sessions on legal, compliance, branding, cybersecurity, domain technologies, etc.

Monitoring

It reviews and monitors the progress or performance of start-ups periodically and takes necessary action as and when required with the project management group.

Funding and capital

The CoEs shall support and guide start-ups for raising funds by leveraging networking with angel investors, venture capitalists, and high net worth individuals as per the appropriate size of start-ups.

Intellectual property rights

STPI has signed a memorandum of understanding with NRDC (National Research and Development Corporation) that will help start-ups to file Intellectual Property Rights such as Patenting (Drafting & Filing), Trademark, Copyright, and any other IPR related legal or statutory support.

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According to NASSCOM, the year 2019 has added 1300 new tech start-ups to the existing count of 8900-9300 tech start-ups, making India the third-largest start-up ecosystem in the world.

Which start-ups can apply?

The start-ups who want to apply for incubation in CoE should be a

Private Limited Company or
Registered Partnership Firm or
Limited Liability Partnership

Date of registration

The date of registration should not be beyond 10 years. If a company is not registered, an application may be made in the names of the founders. However, they should ensure that the company is registered within three months from the date of selection for CoE.

Annual Turnover

The start-up should not have an annual turnover of more than Rs. 100 crores for any of the financial years since its incorporation. The start-up should be an original entity and should not have formed by splitting up or reconstructing an already existing business.

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Selection process

The start-ups are screened through an Idea Challenge Programme in Blockchain Technology in domains like Supply Chain, Agriculture, Finance, and e-governance use cases about Land Records, Public Health, Labour, Service Record, Pension Delivery and Law Enforcement and Evidence Management.

Medtech

Health is wealth. The pandemic attack of 2020 has catalysed the need for an excellent medical infrastructure. Infusing the medical and health sector technology will help doctors in better clinical decision making. According to a report by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Indian medical devices market will grow to $8.16 billion in 2020 at a CAGR of 16 per cent. To reduce the dependence on imports of electronic medical devices and in the wake of the pandemic, the STPI has newly launched an incubator, MedTech, in Lucknow to promote research and development of start-ups in the fields of medical electronics and health informatics. The start-up benefits in getting complete access to IoT and Medi Electronics and health informatics Lab equipped with test equipment and tech support to bring innovation in products. Medtech intends to support and nurture 50 start-ups for five years.

Selection process

The start-ups are chosen based on an Open Challenge Program (OCP) where budding start-ups get to work on the problem statements identified by Government, Industry, Academia & Start-up in the focused domains of MedTech.

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