iTIC Incubator, IIT Hyderabad

Start by matching your stage to the right scheme

iTIC does not run one general application — each government or institutional scheme has its own eligibility and its own form. Work out where your startup sits first:

• Idea or proof-of-concept, hardware-focused: NIDHI PRAYAS or TiHAN PRAYAS/EiR (if your idea touches autonomous navigation, UAVs or ROVs).
• Working prototype, ready to build toward a sellable product: the core Incubation track, NICE Incubation or TiHAN Incubation.
• DPIIT-recognised, incorporated within the last two years, and building a deep-tech product: the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS), applied for through the Startup India portal rather than iTIC directly.
• Working on a defence or aerospace problem: watch for an open iDEX/DISC challenge rather than applying directly to iTIC.
• An undergraduate student or recent graduate with an early idea: BUILD, run through iTIC's partner-college network.

How applications work

Most schemes route through a pre-incubation or incubation form linked from the programme's own page on the iTIC site, or from the general Apply page. SISFS applications go through the Startup India portal instead, where you choose iTIC as your preferred incubator, and are accepted on an ongoing basis rather than in fixed cohorts. For questions on any programme, iTIC's team can be reached at contact@itic.iith.ac.in or by phone.

What to know before applying

• AISEA and the BEL Seed Fund are closed. Don't spend time preparing for either; iTIC's own Apply page flags both as legacy programmes no longer taking applications.
• Read the eligibility line by line for SISFS. It is the most specific of iTIC's schemes: DPIIT recognition, a two-year incorporation window, minimum Indian shareholding, and a cap on prior government funding are all named, hard conditions, not general guidance.
• Expect a further alumni network, not just funding. Several programme pages describe graduating startups joining iTIC's alumni network for continued access to IIT Hyderabad's students, faculty, researchers, mentors and investors after the programme ends.

iTIC Incubator is the technology incubator of IIT Hyderabad, run as a not-for-profit society and supported by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. It works out of the Technology Innovation Park on the IIT Hyderabad campus in Kandi, Sangareddy, Telangana, and focuses on deep-tech founders working in areas such as AI/ML, robotics, IoT, advanced materials, biotechnology, quantum computing and defence technology.

How programmes work

iTIC describes its own founder journey in three stages: a 12-month pre-incubation stage for idea and proof-of-concept founders to build a working prototype, a 24-month incubation stage to turn a prototype into a sellable product, and shorter 4-6 month cohort-based acceleration for startups with early market traction. In practice, most of iTIC's live support runs through named government and institutional schemes layered on top of this ladder rather than one single application. NICE (with NMDC) and TiHAN PRAYAS/EiR and TiHAN Incubation (with the TiHAN Foundation) fund idea and prototype-stage deep-tech and autonomous-systems startups. NIDHI PRAYAS supports idea-stage hardware ideas. MeitY's TIDE 2.0 scheme funds an entrepreneur-in-residence stipend at idea stage and a grant at prototype stage, in named national-priority sectors. The Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) is open on a rolling basis to DPIIT-recognised deep-tech startups. iTIC is also a partner incubator for iDEX, the Ministry of Defence's innovation programme run through the Defence Innovation Organisation, which funds defence and aerospace problem statements through open challenges. BUILD is a separate track for undergraduate and recent-graduate innovators, run together with a network of partner colleges and incubators across India. Two earlier programmes, the AISEA accelerator (run with Action For India) and the BEL Seed Fund, are now closed to new applicants.

Who can apply

Eligibility depends on the scheme. NIDHI PRAYAS and TiHAN PRAYAS/EiR are for idea and proof-of-concept stage founders, several of them expecting an engineering or science graduate background. TiHAN Incubation and the incubation track generally expect a working prototype. SISFS has the most specific eligibility of any scheme here: the applicant must be DPIIT-recognised, incorporated no more than two years before applying, at least 51% Indian-owned, working on a deep-tech solution, and not have already received more than a stated amount of support from other government schemes. BUILD is aimed at undergraduate students and recent graduates rather than registered companies. Sector focus also narrows some schemes: TiHAN wants autonomous-navigation and UAV/ROV-related ideas, NICE lists areas such as AI/ML, quantum computing, robotics and advanced materials, and iDEX is defence- and aerospace-specific.

Facilities

iTIC states co-working space as one of the benefits under its Startup India Seed Fund Scheme track, and its homepage separately counts 1.5 lakh square feet of dedicated incubation space at the centre.

Scale

On its homepage, iTIC reports supporting more than 220 startups, working with more than 200 mentors, and helping create more than 1,200 jobs through the startups it has supported. These are iTIC's own figures, and the site does not say when they were counted.

Who runs it

iTIC's board is chaired by the Director of IIT Hyderabad, Prof. Murty B. S., as President. Prof. Arabinda Haldar (Vice President), Dr. Vishnu R. Unni (General Secretary) and Dr. Gunjan Mehta (Treasurer) are all IIT Hyderabad faculty who also mentor startups directly. The board also includes an outside member, Pradeep Mittal, CEO of GreatFour Systems, alongside several IIT Hyderabad deans as ex-officio members. Day-to-day operations are led by a small team including a Chief Operating Officer and prototyping and outreach staff based at the centre.

Locations

iTIC operates from the Technology Innovation Park on the IIT Hyderabad campus, Kandi, Sangareddy, Telangana 502284. It does not list any other physical location.