SHINE FOUNDATION

Check what is actually open

• The KAN Cohort 3 application is closed, and KDEM lists the next cohort as opening for applications in March 2027. Register interest on KDEM's Karnataka Acceleration Network page and choose the Mangaluru location with SHINE Foundation.
• The Genesis EIR 3.0 call has closed. Apply for any later round through the MeitY Startup Hub portal, where you pick your preferred implementing agencies.
• SHINE's own Incubation and Acceleration programmes do not publish an intake window or an application route. Write to shine@sahyadri.edu.in and ask what is open, and what each costs and whether it takes equity, before you plan around them.

Check you qualify for KAN

• You need to be a Karnataka-registered startup. One-person companies are excluded.
• You should have an MVP, a proof of concept or early traction, and be seed-funded or revenue-ready.
• Your product should be innovation-led and tech-enabled.
• Founders are expected to commit full time to the programme.
• Pages for the programme disagree on whether it is for early-stage or growth-stage startups, so say plainly where you are and ask SHINE if you are unsure.

What the programme offers

• Four modules covering strategy, validation, go-to-market and scale.
• Weekly mentoring and reviews against milestones.
• Local market pilots with customers and partner institutions in the Mangaluru region.
• Pitch coaching, investor introductions and Demo Day preparation.

What to prepare

• Say clearly how far the product has got, with evidence such as users, pilots or revenue.
• Show that the team can work full time on the programme.
• Say whether your product can be piloted with customers in the Mangaluru region, since the programme offers local market pilots.

Other routes

• Events such as the Sahyadri Science Talent Hunt are for school and college students, not for startup applications.

SHINE Foundation, short for Sahyadri Hub for Innovations and Entrepreneurship, is a Section 8 company set up by Sahyadri College of Engineering & Management (SCEM) to support innovation and entrepreneurship. It sits on the SCEM campus in Mangaluru, Karnataka, and runs an incubation programme and an acceleration programme for startups from the region. It is also the Mangaluru-cluster execution partner for the Karnataka Acceleration Network (KAN), a programme of the Government of Karnataka and the Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM).

How programmes work

SHINE's own site names two programmes of its own. The SHINE Incubation Programme is meant to give early-stage startups full support so they can validate their products. The SHINE Accelerator Programme supports entrepreneurs and industries from the region, to promote community-based innovation. Neither page gives an intake window, a duration, a fee policy or an equity policy, so write to SHINE before assuming a call is open.

The programme with a clear structure is KAN, which SHINE delivers in Mangaluru under KDEM guidelines. It is a four-module programme covering strategy, validation, go-to-market and scale. Startups get one-to-one mentoring and group workshops, weekly mentor reviews against milestones, access to customers and partner institutions in the Mangaluru region for early validation, pitch coaching and investor introductions, and Demo Day preparation. KDEM describes the programme as six months long. Cohort 3 is listed for November 2026 to May 2027, and applications for it are closed.

SHINE also lists the Genesis Entrepreneur in Residence programme (Genesis EIR 3.0) on its homepage, with an apply link to the MeitY Startup Hub portal. That call is run by MeitY Startup Hub, not by SHINE, and it has closed.

Who can apply

For KAN, SHINE's page asks for Karnataka-registered startups, other than one-person companies. It looks for startups that are MVP-ready, proof-of-concept-ready or showing early traction, that are seed-funded or revenue-ready, that offer innovation-led, tech-enabled solutions, and whose founders can commit full time. KDEM's page calls the cohort a growth-stage programme, so the two pages describe the stage a little differently.

KDEM names Agritech, Edtech, Fintech and Energy as the sectors SHINE supports.

For Genesis EIR 3.0, guidelines published by another institution taking part describe early-stage innovators from Tier-II and Tier-III cities working in electronics, IT, ICT and deep tech. They must be Indian citizens, and a registered entity must be no more than two years old at the time of applying. Those guidelines are not on SHINE's site, so check the MeitY Startup Hub portal for the current terms.

Facilities and services

SHINE's homepage lists idea-to-prototype support, market access, mentoring, co-working space, networking, funding and lab access among its services. It does not describe the co-working space or the lab in detail. KAN participants are told they get access to workspaces, labs and facilities in Mangaluru.

Scale

SHINE's pages give counts that do not match. One passage says the foundation houses 22 companies, made up of 3 MSMEs and 19 startups, with 20 more ideas at the pre-incubation stage. Its homepage counters instead show 12 startups on campus and 18 graduated. In the first KAN cohort, KDEM's page says SHINE mentored 10 startups with personalised mentoring and seven group sessions, while the pairing it formed with DERBI, with SHINE as the mentee, is shown as 12 startups completing. These are self-reported and undated, so read them as rough orders of magnitude.

KAN as a whole plans to take 60 startups through four growth modules with six accelerator partners in Cohort 3. That is the programme-wide plan, not SHINE's own intake. KDEM lists Cohort 4 as opening for applications in March 2027.

Who runs it

SHINE is a separate Section 8 company, not a department of the college, but it was set up by SCEM and is parented by it. SCEM's own page says KDEM has recognised SHINE as one of six partner accelerators for the Karnataka Accelerator Programme. SHINE's stated mission is to help communities solve problems by making them aware of local problems, teaching problem-solving skills and giving them resources to act.

SHINE also runs the Sahyadri Science Talent Hunt, an annual event where school and college students showcase projects that address everyday problems. It is a student showcase, not a funding programme.

Location and contact

SHINE is on the Sahyadri campus in Adyar, Mangaluru, Karnataka 575007. You can write to shine@sahyadri.edu.in or call +91 96069 93940.