SINE, IIT Bombay

Pick the right door in

SINE runs many schemes at once, each with its own rules, so start by matching your stage to a route rather than applying broadly:

• You have IIT Bombay faculty research or a patent, no company yet: Titanium is the route in -- it matches researchers with business co-founders and takes rolling applications.
• You're a growth-stage startup (TRL 6+) working on environment tech: apply to IGNITE Edition 2 with IDFC FIRST Bank before its deadline.
• You're already incubated at SINE and need scale-up capital: look at the SIDBI Seed Fund or the DST NIDHI Seed Support System.
• You're an IIT Bombay student, alum, faculty or staff member at idea stage: the IITB IOE Seed Support is built for you.
• You've already won a Ministry of Defence iDEX challenge: SIDBI-iDEX funds you through SINE as the implementing partner, but you have to be referred in, not apply cold.
• You're at idea to MVP stage in health, education, agriculture, fintech, clean energy or similar national-priority areas: MeitY TIDE 2.0 funds an Entrepreneur-in-Residence stipend and then a build grant.

How applications work

• Most schemes are open on a rolling or periodic basis, not year-round -- check the specific programme page before assuming it's live. At the time of research only Titanium and IGNITE Edition 2 were open for new applications; the rest cycle open and closed.
• Government-linked grants (DST NIDHI, MeitY TIDE 2.0, SIDBI, BIRAC) generally require your company to already be a DPIIT-registered private limited company with at least 51% Indian promoter shareholding -- get this in place before applying, not after.
• Corporate CSR programmes (IGNITE, HDFC Parivartan Spark) ask for a clear roadmap to commercialisation and, for IGNITE, a specific ESG or environmental angle -- tailor your pitch to the partner's stated focus area rather than a generic deck.
• For general incubation (not a specific grant), start at sims.inc.sineiitb.org.

How selection works

• The standard incubation path is four steps: application form, pitch to SINE's own team, pitch to external domain experts, then a selection decision.
• MeitY TIDE 2.0 spells out its screening in more detail: applications are screened over six to eight weeks, only shortlisted applicants are told anything (no response means you weren't selected), and the committee's decision is final.
• For seed grants generally, expect screening on eligibility first (registration, shareholding, TRL), then a substantive review of the product and team.

What reviewers look for

• Real IP or technology, not just an idea. SINE's own framing is 'IP-based, product-focused' -- a stated technology readiness level (TRL) matters on nearly every scheme.
• A validated customer problem. DST NIDHI's own criteria ask for a clear USP 'through customer validation', not just a stated market size.
• A credible path to scale. Several schemes explicitly ask for a roadmap to commercialisation, not just a working prototype.
• Fit with the specific partner's focus, when it's a corporate-CSR or challenge-based programme -- Nitto Denko's challenge wanted flexible-sensing technology specifically, IGNITE Edition 2 wants environment tech, and GJEPC's JewelStart wanted gems-and-jewellery-industry problems solved, not a general pitch redirected to fit.

The Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE) is the technology business incubator at IIT Bombay, based on the fifth floor of the RBTIC Building on the Powai campus in Mumbai. Formed as a society in 2004, it is recognised by the Department of Science and Technology as a Centre of Excellence and works across government schemes, corporate CSR programmes and its own faculty-IP accelerator to take founders from an early idea through to a scaled company.

How programmes work

SINE rarely runs one open call at a time. Instead it holds a rotating portfolio of grant and accelerator schemes, most tied to a government department or a corporate CSR partner, and each opens and closes on its own schedule. At the time of writing, two are open: Titanium, SINE's own programme for turning IIT Bombay faculty research into startups, which onboards on a rolling basis and pairs researchers holding a patent or prototype (TRL 3 and above) with vetted business co-founders; and the second edition of IGNITE, run with IDFC FIRST Bank, a growth-stage grant for TRL 6-plus startups working on environment technology, with milestone-based funding paid out over six months.

Most of SINE's other schemes are periodically-open government or corporate grants for startups already in its ecosystem. The SIDBI Seed Fund, the DST NIDHI Seed Support System and the IITB IOE Seed Support each offer seed funding, generally up to a similar order of size, for incubated startups moving from prototype to paying customers, with slightly different eligibility rules on shareholding, DPIIT registration and company turnover. SIDBI-iDEX is narrower: it only takes startups that have already won a Ministry of Defence iDEX challenge and been referred to SINE. MeitY TIDE 2.0 funds both an Entrepreneur-in-Residence stipend for idea-stage founders and a follow-on grant to build a minimum viable product, and runs for ten to twelve months. The HDFC Bank Parivartan Spark Program targets early-revenue, TRL 5-plus startups in mobility, energy, advanced materials and deep tech. SINE has also run one-off corporate innovation challenges, including a flexible-sensing challenge with Nitto Denko, a jewellery-industry challenge with GJEPC, and BUILD 2026 with Boeing India.

Who can apply

SINE describes itself as sector-agnostic and looks for IP-based, product-focused technology startups -- a founder, a team with a novel technical innovation, or an academic spin-off can all apply, as long as the idea is built around real technology and can scale. Government and corporate schemes each layer their own eligibility on top of this: registration as a private limited company, minimum Indian promoter shareholding, DPIIT recognition, and a stated technology readiness level are the most common gates, and several of SINE's biggest seed grants are open only to startups it has already incubated.

The standard incubation route runs in four steps: fill in the application form, pitch to SINE's own interdisciplinary team, pitch again to external domain experts, and if selected, join the programme for up to three years, either as a physical resident or virtually.

Facilities

SINE's building holds SINE-run office space, dedicated startup offices and single-seat co-working desks, plus shared meeting rooms, a boardroom, a seminar hall, a library-lounge co-working area and even a childcare room. Its lab complex spans an Electronics and Prototyping Facility, a Metalworking Facility and a BioNEST bio-lab, together offering more than 100 tools and equipment and over 50 working lab seats. Incubated startups can also book time on IIT Bombay's own IRCC instrumentation and analytical facilities.

Scale

By SINE's own count as of September 2026, it has supported more than 550 startups overall, incubated more than 325 of them, and worked with over 1,350 entrepreneurs and innovators. Its startups have generated over 320 IPs and created more than 12,000 jobs. An older figure on SINE's own site, describing 'the last two decades', put the count at 250-plus ventures and 1,000-plus entrepreneurs -- the two figures don't reconcile, so both are noted rather than picked. Alumni include Gupshup, described on SINE's site as the first unicorn to come out of an academic incubator; ideaForge, the first academic-incubator startup to go public, in 2023; ImmunoACT, maker of the NexCAR19 CAR-T cell therapy; Atomberg; and SEDEMAC Mechatronics, which listed on the public market in 2026. In 2026 SINE also launched Y-Point, its own early-stage venture fund investing from pre-seed to early Series A in deep-tech ventures across AI, advanced manufacturing, materials, life sciences, climate tech, and space and defence -- extending SINE's own role from incubator to investor.

Who runs it

SINE's governing board is chaired by Prof. Shireesh Kedare, with Samir Kumar as Vice Chairman; Shaji Varghese is Chief Executive Officer and also sits on the governing board, and Prof. Nishant Sharma is Professor-in-Charge. The wider governing board is made up mainly of IIT Bombay professors across engineering and management departments. SINE runs its own careers page, with open roles handled through an external Keka careers portal, and a separate jobs board for roles at its portfolio startups.

Locations

SINE operates from a single site: the RBTIC Building, opposite VMCC, on the IIT Bombay campus in Powai, Mumbai 400076.