JAIN Launchpad (JAIN University Incubation Centre)

Riseupreneurs is the first rung at JAIN Launchpad. It is an intensive fourteen-week programme that helps you test an idea quickly through hands-on sessions, practical advice, business training, expert support, coaching and mentoring, working with industry experts to shape a business model that holds up.

What you get

• Mentoring sessions and technical support
• Innovation frameworks to validate the idea and cut the risk of building something nobody wants
• Help developing and assessing the business model
• Practice at business pitches and help building a pitch deck for investors
• A certificate on completion
• A route on into incubation and seed support here, plus a startup kit of credits from partners such as AWS, HubSpot and Zendesk

Who can apply

• Individuals, professionals and students with an idea
• Startup founders at ideation stage
• No connection to the university is required

How selection works: applications are called for, the internal team screens and shortlists, shortlisted applicants pitch their ideas, and the selected ones are onboarded to pre-incubation.

How to apply: use the eligibility form on the Programmes page and choose Pre Incubation. The Apply button on the programme's own page is broken, so if it does nothing, write to info@jainlaunchpad.com.

The 8800 Incubation Programme is JAIN Launchpad's main incubation track, built around the DST-supported Technology Business Incubator that has run here since 2016. It is for seed and early-stage startups learning to define and measure customer-driven metrics, and the goal is product-market fit. The programme runs twelve months and works on building a solid team, leadership, business-to-business meetings, networking and investment readiness. It ends with a Demo Day, where selected startups pitch to investors and corporate leaders. The name comes from the JAIN Group's ambition to create 8,800 entrepreneurs.

What you get

• One-on-one mentoring, group mentoring and knowledge sessions across a range of topics
• Business and technical mentoring from industry experts
• Help accessing government grants through the incubator network
• Introductions to experts, mentors, pilot customers and investors, and real-time handholding from corporate partners
• Legal, accounting, company-secretarial, IP and HR support through preferred vendors at a nominal fee
• A place at every event the incubator runs
• A Demo Day pitch to investors and corporate leaders

Who can apply

• Startups with a viable business model
• Founders working on an innovative product or service
• Companies registered as a private limited company, a registered partnership firm, an LLP, or another commercial establishment permitted under Indian law
• Ideally no more than two to three years past registration

How selection works: you submit online, the team reviews the application internally, shortlisted founders are invited to a screening call, and the selected startups are onboarded.

How to apply: use the eligibility form on the Programmes page and choose Incubation, or write to info@jainlaunchpad.com. A separate edtech intake is promoted from the incubator's home page.

The Acceleration Programme is for startups past the building stage that need to grow. It is a four-month structured programme in which industry experts work through the business, the product, the markets and the sales strategy, and revisit operations and processes. The focus is business development, and the programme ends with a Demo Day.

What you get

• In-depth support on scaling the technology, market segmentation, user-persona development and regulatory guidance
• Expert analysis of business, product, market and sales strategy
• Close work with the incubator's corporate partners
• International market access
• A Demo Day

Who can apply

• Registered companies
• With a working product or solution
• With a complete team
• At least six months in existence — note the page's own shortlisting list contradicts this, so ask if you are close to the line

How selection works: applications are collected, then evaluated and shortlisted on year of establishment, the founders' background, how scalable the solution is, why you want to join, and whether you can add value to the rest of the cohort.

How to apply: the Apply button on this page does not work. Use the eligibility form on the Programmes page and choose Acceleration, or write to info@jainlaunchpad.com.

The Karnataka Acceleration Network is a Government of Karnataka initiative to build up the state's acceleration ecosystem. JAIN Launchpad is its mentor accelerator and implementing partner, and takes it into the Beyond Bengaluru regions. The incubator's page describes an acceleration programme of about six months, working through cohort readiness, business strategy, market validation, customer acquisition and investment readiness, and ending in a demo day where startups show their progress to investors. Other lines on the same page give shorter lengths, so confirm the dates for the cohort you are applying to.

What you get

• Domain-specific mentorship tracks from industry leaders
• Workshops and masterclasses on business strategy, fundraising and product development
• Market validation and customer-acquisition support, plus corporate partnerships and pilot opportunities
• Access to infrastructure and market linkages
• Investor connects, curated pitch sessions and a demo day
• Peer learning inside the cohort
• IP support, from awareness through protection and compliance

Who can apply

• Growth-stage startups based in Bengaluru and Beyond Bengaluru Karnataka
• The incubator publishes no eligibility checklist beyond that, so ask before you prepare

How selection works: applications and pitch decks are screened, startups are shortlisted on innovation, scalability, team strength and market potential, shortlisted teams present live to a panel of experts and ecosystem stakeholders, and the top ones join the cohort.

How to apply: the Apply button in the site header leads to a restricted sign-in rather than an open application. Use the eligibility form on the Programmes page and choose Acceleration, or write to info@jainlaunchpad.com.

The Seed Support System has run at JAIN Launchpad since 2019-20 with support from NSTEDB, the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, and is monitored by a Seed Support Management Committee. It gives already-incubated startups the money to finish developing a product, launch it, and expand and grow the business. The incubator's own scheme list describes it as aimed at technology and research-led startups, and its page names eight startups that have received it, each with its founder and the financial year — the most recent shown is 2022-23.

Who can apply

• A company registered in India, preferably a DPIIT-registered or DPIIT-applied startup
• At least three months of association with the incubator, in its resident or virtual incubation programme
• Clear on its unique selling proposition through customer validation, and on the value proposition for the customers it is going after
• At least 51% of shares held by Indian promoters
• Not an Indian subsidiary of a multinational or foreign company. Overseas Citizens of India and Persons of Indian Origin count as Indian citizens here
• Preference goes to startups that have not already taken central or state government funding

How selection works: you submit an application, it is reviewed for eligibility, the incubator does its own evaluation and due diligence, you pitch to the Seed Support Management Committee, the committee's recommendation decides the outcome, and a final due diligence, term sheet and agreement follow before the sanction order is issued.

How to apply: join one of the incubation programmes first — three months inside resident or virtual incubation is a precondition. There is no separate public application route, so ask at info@jainlaunchpad.com.

JAIN Launchpad has run the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme since February 2023. The scheme backs startups at the early stages — proof of concept, prototype development, product trials, market entry and commercialisation — so that they can go on to raise from angel investors or venture funds, or borrow from banks. Support can come as a grant, as equity or as debt. It is backed by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and the incubator's list describes it as aimed at startups with a minimum viable product or early traction.

Who can apply

• The incubator does not publish the scheme's eligibility rules on its own pages, so check them with the team before you prepare an application

How to apply: there is no separate route published on the incubator's site. Ask at info@jainlaunchpad.com, or use the eligibility form on the Programmes page.

The NIDHI Accelerator launched in July 2020 with support from NSTEDB, the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, to help growth-driven startups through education, mentorship and investment. Founders worked with coaches, mentors and experts to test whether the business was interesting, healthy and defensible, and the programme ended in a Demo Day where ventures pitched to investors and potential clients. The incubator's own scheme list dates it to 2020 and 2021 only, so treat it as closed and ask whether another intake is planned.

How to apply: no current intake is published. For acceleration today, look at the Acceleration Programme or the Karnataka Acceleration Network.

JAIN Elevate WomEN, also listed as Elevate Women or WeScalate, launched in August 2022 with support from KITS, the Department of Electronics, IT, BT and S&T, Government of Karnataka. It was built to handhold women founders from non-metro and tier-2 and tier-3 regions of Karnataka, using approaches drawn from Silicon Valley practice to speed up product development or reach product-market fit, and to help them build companies that create good jobs locally. The incubator's scheme list dates it to 2022-23, so treat it as between intakes.

Who could apply

• Women founders of technology startups from non-metro, tier-2 and tier-3 regions of Karnataka

How to apply: no current intake is published. Write to info@jainlaunchpad.com to ask whether it is running again.