SR Innovation Exchange (SRiX)

Pre-Incubation is SRiX's entry programme. It runs for four weeks and combines business training, expert support, coaching and mentoring to move an idea towards a minimum viable product. It charges a programme fee. The intake published on SRiX's page ran in December 2025, so it is between intakes as far as the site shows — ask when the next one opens.

What you get

• Structured live workshops on testing, validating and improving your business idea, with feedback at set stages
• Group mentoring alongside other founders
• A certificate of participation on completion
• A chance to qualify for incubation at SRiX
• Eligibility for the funding routes SRiX hosts, including NIDHI PRAYAS, NIDHI Seed Support System, NIDHI EiR, TIDE 2.0 and the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme

Who can apply

• Co-founders of an idea or early-stage venture
• Students and working professionals with startup aspirations or a product idea
• No incorporation requirement is stated, and there is no restriction to SR University

How selection works: SRiX does not publish a selection process beyond reviewing your form and pitch deck.

How to apply: Fill the application reached from the Apply Now button and send a short pitch deck covering your concept, business model and IP strategy. Enquiries to info@srix.in.

InnovationX is SRiX's student innovation challenge. It is open to Indian students across undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programmes, and it runs to a live finale on the SRiX campus in Warangal. The published edition, InnovationX 5.0, ran in November 2025; earlier editions appear on SRiX's events page, so it recurs.

What you get

• Cash and other prizes for winners
• Mentoring from industry experts
• Coverage of your story in social and print media
• A chance to incubate with SRiX in Warangal
• Free passes to SRiX events and access to its funding programmes
• A participation certificate for everyone who takes part

Who can apply

• Any Indian student pursuing a graduate, postgraduate or doctoral degree
• Individual innovators or teams

How selection works: There is a prefinale and a grand finale round. Each innovator or team gets a maximum ten-minute slot — five minutes to pitch and five for questions — in both rounds. A product demo or video is optional and earns no extra time.

How to apply: Submit your idea through the application on the InnovationX page. Enquiries to info@srix.in.

SPRINT is a short pitch event SRiX takes into colleges to build entrepreneurial interest among students. You get three minutes to pitch an idea, innovation or startup to an audience of mentors, subject-matter experts and other innovators. No dates are published; it runs as and when a college hosts it.

What you get

• Mentoring from industry experts
• Cash and other prizes for winners
• Coverage of your story in social and print media
• A place in an upcoming Pre-Incubation intake if you are shortlisted
• A participation certificate, and access to further SRiX events and workshops
• A chance to incubate at SRiX

Who can apply

• Students from SR University and from other colleges
• Technologists interested in entrepreneurship
• Developers and industry professionals

How selection works: A three-minute elevator pitch in front of the audience panel. Shortlisted individuals and teams are invited into Pre-Incubation.

How to apply: Through the application reached from the SPRINT page, or ask info@srix.in whether a SPRINT is coming to your college.

EmpowerHER is SRiX's programme for women founders. It runs as curated sessions on the SR University campus, monthly and annually, and it ends in a demo day where founders pitch to investors, ecosystem enablers and other stakeholders. SRiX's own page lists 17 women-founded ventures from its portfolio alongside the programme.

What you get

• Workshops and masterclasses on idea validation, business model design, pitch readiness, legal compliance, digital marketing and funding
• One-on-one mentorship with domain experts
• Networking with investors, industry leaders and other founders
• Access to co-working space and incubation support
• A demo day to pitch your venture

Who can apply

• Women with an innovative startup idea
• Early-stage women entrepreneurs looking for structured support
• Professionals or students moving into entrepreneurship

How to apply: SRiX publishes no separate route for EmpowerHER. Use the site's application, or call the Warangal number or write to info@srix.in to ask when the next session runs.

NIDHI PRAYAS is a DST route for idea-stage entrepreneurs with a physical product who need to build and iterate a prototype. SRiX calls selected applicants PRAYASEES. It is call-based and SRiX publishes no current call date, so ask before you plan around it.

What you get

• Grant support for prototype development
• Incubation support and services
• Co-working space with administrative support
• Access to prototyping facilities, a fabrication lab and 3D printing
• Mentorship on innovation management, business development, IP management, legal compliance and raising resources
• Scope for follow-on funding and handholding towards commercialisation

Who can apply

• Indian citizens with government-approved proof of nationality, such as a valid passport or voter ID
• Applicants aged 18 or over on the date of application
• Startups whose existence and operations do not exceed seven years from the date of incorporation

How selection works: Not published. SRiX's eligibility text mixes an individual test with a company test without saying which applies when, so ask which one you are being assessed against.

How to apply: Through the application reached from the NIDHI PRAYAS page. Enquiries to info@srix.in.

The NIDHI Seed Support System gives incubated startups financial assistance to get from a developed technology to a commercial product, and to a point where they can raise from angels, venture funds or banks. SRiX's events page names a Cohort II, so at least two cohorts have run. No current call date is published.

What you get

• Seed support disbursed by the incubator to the startup
• Incubation support and services
• Technical expertise, business mentorship and IP facilitation
• Office space, a fab lab and rapid prototyping facilities
• Access to the SRiX startup network and its entrepreneurship workshops
• Further funding or incubation support after the prototyping stage

Who can apply

• A company registered in India
• An Indian startup, not an Indian subsidiary of a multinational or foreign company; Overseas Citizens of India and Persons of Indian Origin count as Indian citizens for this scheme
• Indian promoters holding at least 51 per cent of the startup

How to apply: Through the application reached from the NIDHI Seed Support System page. Enquiries to info@srix.in.

NIDHI EiR is an entrepreneur-in-residence fellowship introduced by NSTEDB, Government of India, and hosted at SRiX. It pays a monthly fellowship for a year to offset the cost of leaving a salary to build a startup, alongside mentorship and office space. No current call date is published.

What you get

• A monthly fellowship for a year
• Mentorship, office space and guidance
• Technical expertise, business mentorship and IP facilitation
• A fab lab and rapid prototyping facilities
• Access to the SRiX startup network and its entrepreneurship workshops
• Further funding or incubation support after the prototyping stage

Who can apply

• Indian citizens
• Graduates or postgraduates in science or engineering; final-year students are not eligible
• People who will pursue the venture full time, not as a stopgap or alongside academic work
• People who can show they can build a scalable technology business

How to apply: Through the application reached from the NIDHI EiR page. Enquiries to info@srix.in.

TIDE 2.0 is MeitY's Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs scheme, which funds incubators to back ICT startups using emerging technologies. This is the SRiX programme with the clearest track record on its own pages: SRiX reports three calls announced, more than 300 applications received, 30 grantees supported, 12 IP filings and three products commercialised, and it names three EiR cohorts and three grant cohorts. The programme runs for 12 months. No current call date is published.

What you get

• Grant support for validating and developing an idea, and a larger grant for taking a proof of concept to a minimum viable product
• Incubation support and services
• Technical expertise, business mentorship and IP facilitation
• Office space, a fab lab and rapid prototyping facilities
• Access to the SRiX startup network and its entrepreneurship workshops
• Further funding or incubation support after the prototyping stage

Who can apply

• Startups using emerging technologies such as IoT, artificial intelligence, blockchain and robotics

How to apply: Through the application reached from the TIDE 2.0 page. Programme queries go to manager@srix.in.

The Startup India Seed Fund Scheme provides seed support to prototype-ready startups, bridging prototype and commercialisation. SRiX lists it among the funding routes its incubatees can reach. Its page sets out the national eligibility rules rather than an SRiX-specific call, and no call date is published — worth confirming with SRiX which route it uses before you apply.

What you get

• Seed support as grants and convertible or debt debentures, per the scheme guidelines
• Incubation support and services
• Technical expertise, business mentorship and IP facilitation
• Office space, a fab lab and rapid prototyping facilities
• Access to the SRiX startup network and its entrepreneurship workshops

Who can apply

• A startup recognised by DPIIT and incorporated or registered no more than two years before applying
• A startup with a business idea for a product or service with viable commercialisation, market fit and scope to scale
• A startup using technology at the core of its service, product, distribution model, business model or methodology
• Indian promoter shareholding of at least 51 per cent at the time of application
• Startups that have not already taken above the scheme's cap of central or state government monetary support; subsidised workspace, competition prize money, lab access, founder allowances and prototyping access do not count towards that cap

How to apply: Through the application reached from the Startup India Seed Fund page, or ask info@srix.in how SRiX takes applications for this scheme.