InFED, IIM Nagpur

This is InFED's standing incubation offer, separate from the funded schemes it delivers. It is laid out as a 144-week plan: a goal and milestone setting week at the start, quarterly reviews at weeks 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84 and 124, a need-based mentoring or masterclass block at week 100, and a graduation week at the end. The full term is three years, extendable by one year in special circumstances.

What you get

• A paced three-year programme with fixed quarterly review points
• Mentoring drawn from a panel of 64 named mentors
• Market linkages, networking and paid pilot introductions, which InFED lists among its objectives
• A seat in the InFED block on the IIM Nagpur campus

Who can apply

• Startups recognised by DPIIT and incorporated no more than two years before applying; if you are not recognised yet, it must be done within a month of joining
• At least 51% of shareholding held by Indian promoters
• The business must use technology in its core product, service, business model, distribution model or method
• Any sector, though InFED names AgriTech, HealthTech, the circular economy and technology-enabled startups as its focus

How selection works: two stages. First you submit an executive summary or business plan. Then InFED runs its own research and due diligence on the company, on you and your management team, and on the industry, and may ask for more information or a revised summary and presentation. It assesses entrepreneurial experience, a written market access plan, current financial status, capitalisation potential, job creation potential, financial growth potential, the manufacturing process, commitment to R&D, and time to market.

How to apply: the incubation page itself carries no form. In practice you apply through whichever named scheme is open, or write to infed@iimnagpur.ac.in.

A startup graduates when at least two of five conditions are met: it passes a stated annual sales threshold, it is acquired, more than half its stock is sold, it recruits more than five employees and outgrows the incubator, or it has completed three years and no longer needs significant support.

InFED is one of the incubators through which the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme is disbursed, and it is by far the most common route into its portfolio — fifteen of the startups on its portfolio page are tagged as incubated under the scheme. InFED has also published a coffee table book about its seed fund cohort.

What you get

• Seed support for proof of concept, prototype development, product trials, market entry and commercialisation
• Support is available as a grant and as debt or convertible debentures, each once
• No mandatory physical incubation under the scheme's own rules

Who can apply

• Startups recognised by DPIIT and incorporated no more than two years before applying
• A business idea with market fit, viable commercialisation and scope to scale
• Technology in the core product, service, business model, distribution model or method
• At least 51% Indian promoter shareholding
• You must not already have taken more than the scheme's stated ceiling of central or state government support

How selection works: through the scheme's own process at the incubator you apply to.

How to apply: through the national seed fund portal, which takes applications year-round and lets a startup approach three incubators at once. Name InFED as one of them.

GENESIS is MeitY Startup Hub's umbrella scheme for startups outside the metros, and InFED runs its entrepreneur-in-residence component in Nagpur. Nine startups on InFED's portfolio page are tagged as incubated under GENESIS, and InFED held a graduation ceremony for an EiR cohort in July 2026. Intakes come in cohorts rather than continuously — the last published cohort's applications have closed.

What you get

• Entrepreneur-in-residence support to validate a startup idea full time
• Incubation support at InFED, with mentoring and a place to work
• Access to the wider GENESIS scheme, which also has pilot funding, deep-tech funding and an investment track

Who can apply

• Indian citizens who are early-stage innovators, entrepreneurs or founders
• A registered entity must be no more than two years old at the date of application
• You must originate from or operate in a Tier-II or Tier-III city
• The innovation must be early — ideation, concept development, validation, proof of concept or a working prototype
• Preference for electronics, IT, ICT and deep tech, including electronic design and manufacturing and artificial intelligence
• You must not have been supported before under GENESIS EiR or an overlapping MeitY scheme

How to apply: through MeitY Startup Hub's own application page, linked from InFED's programmes page, when a cohort is open. Watch the notice bar on InFED's home page for the next call.

This is the clearest case of InFED delivering a national programme in its own right: MeitY Startup Hub administers the scheme, and selected startups go through InFED's six-month acceleration programme. The support is matching investment against qualifying external private investment, given as equity or equity-linked instruments — equity, compulsorily convertible preference shares or compulsorily convertible debentures. It is explicitly not a grant.

What you get

• A six-month acceleration programme shaped around your stage and growth milestones
• Matching investment alongside private investors you bring, subject to approval
• Mentoring on product-market fit, strategy, pricing, unit economics and technology scalability
• Investment-readiness work: pitch, financial modelling, valuation and due-diligence preparation
• Investor matchmaking, pitch opportunities and a cohort demo day
• Customer and industry connections for pilots, revenue and market expansion
• Help strengthening governance, financial controls and operating processes, and a 12 to 18 month growth roadmap

Who can apply

• Indian private limited companies with at least 51% Indian ownership
• A registered office in a Tier-II or Tier-III city, per your RoC records
• A valid DPIIT startup recognition certificate
• A full-time founder or co-founder and a team
• A market-ready product in electronics design and IT, electronics manufacturing, IT products or deep tech; service-platform models are discouraged
• No involvement in legal disputes, and no prior support under TIDE 2.0 Scale-up or SAMRIDH

How selection works: eligibility verification, due diligence, confirmation of qualifying matching investment, and final approval by MeitY Startup Hub. Revenue is preferred but not stated as mandatory, and granted patents are preferred but not required.

How to apply: through the MeitY Startup Hub application page linked from InFED's programmes page. This one runs to a published deadline, so check the date before you start.

NIDHI-EIR exists to let someone leave a job and work on a technology venture full time without their own income. Five startups on InFED's portfolio page are tagged as incubated under it, and IIM Nagpur keeps a NIDHI-EIR page with the guidelines and an application route.

What you get

• A monthly grant for twelve months, which stops if you raise outside funding
• Office and co-working space, administrative support and mentoring from the executing incubator
• Guidance from experienced entrepreneurs on the business concept, strategy and the specific market

Who can apply

• Indian citizens
• Four years of full-time undergraduate or postgraduate education in science or engineering, or a three-year degree or diploma plus two years of full-time work after it
• First-generation innovative entrepreneurs with no other source of income; this is not meant as a stop-gap between jobs or alongside study
• You cannot be a promoter or hold more than 10% of another company
• You must be registered for the incubator's pre-incubation or incubation programme for the whole support period
• Preference for ideas with real technical uncertainty, long gestation, links to publicly funded research, or strong social impact

How to apply: through the national NIDHI-EIR route linked from InFED's programmes page, submitting your background and one technology business idea in the prescribed format.

SARTHI is a Government of Maharashtra institute, and InFED runs its entrepreneurship fellowship in Nagpur. It held a SARTHI graduation ceremony in July 2026, and one portfolio company is tagged as supported under it.

What you get

• A monthly grant for a year, plus cloud credits
• Office space, administrative support and co-working space
• Guidance from experienced entrepreneurs on the business concept, strategy and market, and help broadening your professional network

Who can apply

• Permanent residents of Maharashtra from the Maratha, Kunbi, Kunbi-Maratha or Maratha-Kunbi communities, with the relevant school leaving or caste certificate
• An income certificate or non-creamy-layer certificate, with annual family income under the stated ceiling
• Graduates, with their own technology business idea, ready to turn it into a scalable startup within a year
• You must not have had financial benefit from SARTHI before, and you must pursue the venture full time during the support period

How selection works: applicants submit and present a formal business plan and investment proposal.

How to apply: through the application link on InFED's programmes page.

InFED runs this accelerator for SC and ST entrepreneurs and their wards, in cohorts. Both of the application forms it has published are now closed, and the most recent cohort activity on its events calendar is from August 2026, so it is between intakes rather than open.

Who can apply

• SC and ST entrepreneurs and their wards

How to apply: InFED announces each cohort in the notice bar at the top of its home page and links the application form there. It publishes no standing description of the programme, so the form itself is where the detail sits — watch for the next call rather than the page.

InFED lists HDFC Bank's Parivartan start-up grants among the schemes its startups can reach, and three portfolio companies are tagged as supported under it. It is an annual programme for social-impact startups working towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

What you get

• Grant support, plus mentoring, networking and scaling help

Who can apply

• Startups associated with the incubators selected under the programme
• Work in sectors aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals — climate innovation, financial inclusion, agriculture, healthcare, education and gender diversity

How to apply: through the programme's own call. InFED links to it from its programmes page but does not publish an InFED-specific form, so ask at infed@iimnagpur.ac.in whether it is running this year.

These are InFED's off-campus centres, set up with the district administrations to reach founders and small businesses who will not travel to MIHAN. The initiatives page describes the Gondia and Wardha centres; InFED's team list also names centre coordinators for Bhandara and Gadchiroli. Both described centres publish their own annual impact reports.

What you get

• Mentorship, training and help reaching funding
• A local point of contact rather than a campus visit

Who can apply

• Startups and small businesses in the district the centre serves

How to apply: InFED does not publish an application route for the centres. Write to infed@iimnagpur.ac.in and ask for the coordinator for your district.

This is not a startup programme — it is MSME work, and it is a large part of what InFED actually does. InFED partnered with MSSIDC, the state nodal agency for the Strategic Investment Plan under the World Bank-supported RAMP project in Maharashtra, on a three-year effort to build MSME capacity.

What you get

• Training in financial management, digital loans, using the GeM portal, input tax credit, intellectual property rights and performance audits
• A stated focus on women and on SC and ST entrepreneurs

Who can apply

• MSMEs in Nagpur, Wardha, Amravati, Akola, Chandrapur, Bhandara, Gadchiroli, Buldhana, Yavatmal, Washim and Gondia

How to apply: no public form is published. Write to infed@iimnagpur.ac.in.

Wardhini works with self-help groups rather than startups, building their operational capability and helping them put sustainable business models together through workshops, mentorship and access to resources.

Who can apply

• Self-help groups in the Wardha region

How to apply: no public form is published. Write to infed@iimnagpur.ac.in.