National Design Business Incubator (NDBI)

Choosing the right route

NDBI has three separate doors, and they are not interchangeable.

• NDBI Incubation Program — the main one. Open to any startup registered in India, not just NID people. You need to be at prototype or MVP stage at minimum.
• NIDHI Accelerator — post-incubation, for DPIIT-registered startups that already have market validation and are scaling, applying under women-led, socially challenged or physically challenged founder focus areas. Its last published call has closed, so watch for the next one.
• SSIP 2.0 — proof-of-concept support restricted to current NID students and NID alumni up to 35. If you did not study at NID, this one is not for you.

Check you clear the basics first

For the incubation programme, run through the eligibility list before you write anything. You need to be a private limited company, LLP or registered partnership, incorporated within the last ten years, under the stated turnover cap, working on innovation or on improving a product, process or service, and not the result of splitting up or restructuring an older business. If you are not incorporated yet, you can still apply — selected startups get three months to complete registration.

How applications work

Applications open in cohorts, not year-round, and the current call is linked from NDBI's own apply page. Recent cohorts have opened roughly once a year, and NDBI has extended the closing date on several of them, so a passed date on the page is not always final — but do not plan around an extension. There is a one-time non-refundable registration fee for the programme, so factor that in before you start.

Be aware that the apply page stacks closing dates from several past cohorts on top of each other. Read the one attached to the cohort named in the heading.

How selection works

Two stages. First a preliminary screening of your application. Then, if you are shortlisted, you present your idea and business plan in person to a selection committee, and the committee's recommendation decides whether you are invited in. So the written application needs to get you into the room, and the pitch needs to close it.

What reviewers look for

NDBI is a design incubator, and its own framing is about turning design ideas into commercially usable products and services. Its stated objectives include assessing design-led ideas and running a design audit. So show the design thinking behind your product — form, user experience, materials, how you arrived at the current version — not just the market size. A physical prototype or a clear prototyping plan helps, because much of what NDBI offers is workshop and lab access you would only use if you are actually building something.

It also says plainly that non-design startups are supported where it feels it can add value. If you are not a design-first company, make the case for what NDBI's labs, mentors and IPR cell would specifically do for you.

Practical notes

Co-working space is offered at the Ahmedabad and Bengaluru campuses, so think about which one you would sit in. Queries on the incubation programme go to communication.ndbi@nid.edu; NIDHI Accelerator queries go to resources.ndbi@nid.edu.

The National Design Business Incubator (NDBI) is a business incubator hosted on the campus of the National Institute of Design in Paldi, Ahmedabad. It describes itself as an independent entity sitting inside NID's premises, incorporated as a non-profit company, with NID providing handholding support since it started. It also runs an office in Bengaluru, at Rajajinagar Industrial Estate.

NDBI's stated purpose is to nurture a culture of entrepreneurship among young designers, so that their ideas turn into products or services that can be sold commercially. In practice that means the incubator is built around design work — prototyping, visualisation, user experience and industrial design — rather than around a single technology sector.

Who can apply

The question founders ask most often about NDBI is whether you have to be from NID. For the main incubation programme, the answer on its own pages is no: it says the NDBI incubation programme is open to all startups registered in India. The exception is its Student Startup & Innovation Policy support, which is restricted to current NID students and NID alumni up to 35 years of age.

For the incubation programme you need to meet the Government of India startup definition. That means a private limited company, LLP or registered partnership, incorporated not more than ten years ago, under the stated turnover cap, working on innovation or on developing or improving a product, process or service, and not formed by splitting up or reconstructing an existing business. You also need to be at least at prototype or MVP stage. If you are not registered yet at the time of selection, NDBI gives you three months to finish the formalities.

On sector, NDBI says its focus is design-based startups, but that it will support others where it thinks it can add value and the startup can become a sustainable business. Its most recent cohort call named agritech, ceramics, glass and sanitary ware, healthcare, mobility, space and defence, and toys and games among the areas it wanted.

How programmes work

The main route in is the NDBI Incubation Program, which runs in cohorts rather than continuously. It lasts 18 months, and NDBI may extend it by a further six months if it thinks a startup still needs the support. Selected startups get co-working office space at the Ahmedabad and Bengaluru campuses, mentoring, networking, IPR support, access to design labs, access to seed funding, and help with things like legal work and company formation. There is a one-time non-refundable registration fee.

Selection is two steps. Applications go through a preliminary screening, and shortlisted startups are then invited to present their idea and business plan to a selection committee. The committee's recommendation decides who is invited in.

NDBI has also been selected to run the NIDHI Accelerator Program of the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board, under the Department of Science and Technology. That one is a post-incubation programme for DPIIT-registered startups that already have market validation and are at growth or scale-up stage, applying under one of three focus areas: women-led entrepreneurship, socially challenged groups and physically challenged groups. It offers 50 hours of one-to-one mentoring per startup, expert sessions online and offline, demo day and investor connects, grant support for the top five startups, and 12 months of post-programme support. The last call shown for it closed in December 2024, so it is between intakes.

The third route, SSIP 2.0, is Gujarat's Student Startup & Innovation Policy. NID is one of the nodal institutes implementing it, and NDBI handles the process: an application form, an initial screening, and a presentation to an SSIP scrutiny committee. Selected NID students and alumni get co-working space, mentoring, proof-of-concept support for building a prototype, full reimbursement of patent, design registration and copyright filing costs, and IPR guidance.

Facilities

Because it sits on the NID campus, NDBI's incubatees get access to design infrastructure that few incubators can offer. The Design Vision Centre is a climate-controlled design support facility at NID Ahmedabad of about 3200 sq ft, housing a high performance visualisation lab and a rapid product development lab. The visualisation lab lets a multidisciplinary group look at and discuss 3D images of a design concept from 360 degrees in real time. The rapid product development lab runs 3D printing and rapid prototyping for model making. There is also a CO2 laser cutter and engraver with a 900mm by 600mm bed that works on MDF, acrylic, paper, fabric and leather, and a 3D laser scanner for turning physical objects into digital models. NID's Knowledge Management Centre gives access to its book, periodical and audio-visual collection, student diploma projects, craft documentation reports and design prototypes.

On the office side, incubatees get air-conditioned space with furniture, a desktop computer, a printer, high speed internet, design software and conferencing facilities, and are free to use their own machines. Campus amenities like the library, telecom, photocopying and the canteen are included.

NID's IPR Cell, first set up in 1999, supports incubatees with patent, copyright and trademark registration, and has a track record of registered industrial designs — NDBI showcases several of them, from a violin and a bag to a nail gun and a solar lamp.

Scale and recognition

NDBI does not print a running total of startups supported. Its own pages name 28 current incubatees and eight past ones, across healthcare, mobility, agritech, education, gaming, logistics, assistive devices and consumer products. It also publishes a video series called Startup Manch in which its incubatees present their ideas and discuss them with industry experts; nine episodes are listed.

Its pages describe NDBI as supported by the Department of Science and Technology and by DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry. It is one of the nodal institutes implementing the Government of Gujarat Startup and Innovation Policy, and has been approved by the nodal agency, the Industries Commissionerate, Government of Gujarat. Its listed partners include AWS Activate, HDFC Bank, Cashfree, LegalWiz.in, MSG91, F6S and IIMK LIVE.

Who runs it and where

The board is chaired by Ashok Mondal, Director of NID Ahmedabad, and includes Samveg Lalbhai of Atul Ltd., Dinesh Avasthi, Shanay Shah of Shalby Limited, Jaykalp Patel of Pushpak Trademech Ltd. and NID faculty member Neelima Hasija. The operational team is led by Jitendra Singh Rajput as CEO in charge, with staff for operations, programmes, incubation and IT in Ahmedabad and an incubation manager in Bengaluru. A panel of external mentors covers design research, product innovation, animation and new media, go-to-market and finance.

The Ahmedabad office is at the NID campus in Paldi and the Bengaluru office is at Rajajinagar Industrial Estate, both open Monday to Friday. Its recent cohort page also mentions a Gandhinagar campus, though no Gandhinagar address is given anywhere on the site.