Incubators and Accelerators for Student Startups
70 incubators, accelerators and programmes that list students or student founders among the people they support. Open a profile to see the programme's stage, location and how to apply.
70 organisations, page 1 of 2
Gujarat Student Startup and Innovation Hub (i-Hub)
Gujarat's state incubation hub for student founders, running seed grants, incubation and mentoring under the Student Startup and Innovation Policy from Ahmedabad.
COEP Bhau Institute of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Leadership
A DST-supported technology business incubator on the COEP Technological University campus in Pune, running incubation, prototyping and seed support programmes for startups.
JECRC Incubation Centre
Incubation centre at JECRC University, Jaipur — a MeitY TIDE 2.0 G2C centre running GENESIS grant routes for founders nationwide and a student-only incubation cohort.
Vishva
A technology business incubator on the SVECW campus in Bhimavaram, Andhra Pradesh, running a student pitch platform and two government seed-support schemes for founders.
NSUT Innovation and Incubation Foundation (NSUT-IIF)
The incubator of Netaji Subhas University of Technology in Dwarka, New Delhi — a Section 8 company running two-year incubation with seed support.
Madanapalle Institute of Technology and Science
Section 8 incubator at MITS Deemed to be University, Madanapalle — open in policy to any founder, but almost every recorded incubatee is an MITS student or faculty member.
Ratan Tata Innovation Hub (RTIH)
Andhra Pradesh's government innovation hub in Amaravati, with five spokes, running incubation, student and challenge programmes.
Innovation Mission Punjab
Public-private partnership in Mohali that runs idea-validation, pre-seed, accelerator and student programmes for startups and young innovators in Punjab.
Wadhwani Foundation
Global non-profit founded by Dr. Romesh Wadhwani that supports entrepreneurs through Liftoff, Accelerate, Ignite and a learning programme for SMEs; its India work is delivered from Bengaluru by the National Entrepreneurship Network.
NewGen IEDC
A DST-NSTEDB scheme, implemented by EDII, that puts innovation and entrepreneurship centres on university and college campuses; the centres fund and mentor student prototype projects.
TiE Pune
Pune chapter of TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs): an equity-free accelerator called Nurture, an angel group, a women's pitch route and student programmes for founders.
Incubein Foundation (RTMNU BIC), Nagpur
Nagpur University’s business incubation centre — a Section 8 non-profit taking applications from founders, students and unregistered teams across twelve sectors.
Marwadi University
MUIIR is the startup incubator of Marwadi University in Rajkot, Gujarat. It offers student founders a first office, co-working space, mentoring and funding for student ideas.
DKTE Textile & Engineering Institute
Ichalkaranji textile and engineering institute whose innovation council, AICTE-IDEA Lab and DST-listed textile TBI support its own students and faculty.
Aryabhatta College, University of Delhi
A University of Delhi college on Benito Juarez Road with a student Entrepreneurship Cell, a Startup Club and a campus Incubation Centre linked to AIC-JNUFI. Its startup activity is for Aryabhatta College students, not outside founders.
PW School of Startups
PW School of Startups (PW SOS) is PhysicsWallah's startup arm: a paid bootcamp, free mentoring, seed funding and a StartInUP-accredited incubation track for student and early-stage founders.
All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)
Statutory body of the Government of India for technical education, running student innovation and startup schemes.
K R Mangalam University
Private university on Sohna Road, Gurugram, with a student founder incubator (KEIC) offering pre-incubation, incubation and a 4-week Idea Factory sprint.
J C BOSE UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, YMCA, FARIDBAD
J.C. Bose Technology Business Incubator (JCB-TBI) is the university incubator of J.C. Bose University of Science and Technology, YMCA, in Faridabad, Haryana, for student, alumni and faculty founders.
I.T.S Engineering College, Greater Noida
An engineering college in Greater Noida whose in-house Navrachna Foundation offers fabrication, 3D-printing and mentorship, mainly to the college's own students building startups.
Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee International Institute of Information Technology, Naya Raipur
Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee International Institute of Information Technology, Naya Raipur — a state university at Atal Nagar, Chhattisgarh, with a Section 8 technology business incubation arm.
Kalinga University
Private university in Naya Raipur whose Section 8 arm, Kalinga Incubation Foundation, incubates student and faculty ventures; also an MSME Innovative Scheme Host Institute.
Antrapreneur - The Business Incubation Centre
Antrapreneur The Business Incubator is the startup incubator of LJ Knowledge Foundation in Ahmedabad, working with student-led and early-stage founders.
Gujarat Student Startup and Innovation Hub (i-Hub)
Gujarat's state incubation hub for student innovators, running grant, IP, incubation and women-founder programmes from Ahmedabad.
G. H. RAISONI COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT, WAGHOLI,PUNE
An autonomous engineering college in Wagholi, Pune, whose Eureka Innovation and Incubation Centre gives its own students free workspace and mentorship to build startups.
SPHOORTHY ENGINEERING COLLEGE
Sphoorthy Engineering College runs an on-campus innovation and entrepreneurship centre for its own students, based in Hyderabad.
Swarnandhra College of Engineering and Technology
Swarnandhra College of Engineering and Technology in Narsapur, West Godavari runs an AICTE IDEA Lab and an Entrepreneurship Development Cell for its own students.
Vignans Institute of Information Technology
VIIT Visakhapatnam runs VCIS, its own innovation and start-up centre under NISP-2019 — a campus route for VIIT students, alumni, faculty and staff, not for outside founders.
B M S College of Engineering
The innovation and incubation cell of B.M.S. College of Engineering in Bengaluru, for its own students and faculty.
Adi Shankara Institute of Engineering and Technology
A Kerala Startup Mission IEDC and a KSIDC-sanctioned incubation centre on the ASIET campus at Kalady — for the college's own students, faculty and alumni.
Business Innovation and Incubation Centre (BIIC), Mahatma Gandhi University
Mahatma Gandhi University's in-house incubation centre in Kottayam — open, by its own policy, only to MGU students, MGU research scholars and grass-root innovators.
Fatima Mata National College
An autonomous arts-and-science college in Kollam, Kerala, whose innovation body — IEDC FMNC — is open only to its own undergraduates: the registration form accepts one of 20 Fatima Mata National College UG courses and a semester from 1 to 6, so there is no entry for anyone else.
Dr MGR Educational and Research Institute
Campus incubator at Dr. M.G.R. Educational and Research Institute in Chennai, run as the Section 8 company Benz Emerge Technology Foundation, with prototyping, 3D printing and food and mechanical testing labs.
NEC Business Incubator (DST i-TBI)
DST-supported inclusive technology business incubator at National Engineering College, Kovilpatti, with an open cohort call for circular economy, agritech and IoT startups.
Rathinam Technical Campus
An autonomous engineering college in Coimbatore whose startup routes are for its own students only — its enrollment form is subtitled "Only for Rathinam Technical Campus Students". The Rathinam group's incubator for outside founders is AIC RAISE, a separate body on the same campus.
NITK-STEP (NITK Science & Technology Entrepreneurs' Park)
Campus incubator at NIT Karnataka Surathkal, taking in technology startups all year round on a rolling basis.
BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus
Campus technology business incubator at BITS Pilani Hyderabad, running since 2012 with bio labs, prototyping space and student pre-incubation.
Deshpande Startups
A government-recognised technology business incubator in Hubballi, Karnataka, running validation, development, incubation and acceleration programmes for founders from non-metro India.
Incubation Masters
IM Global's startup support arm, running a virtual incubation programme and an AI-powered growth platform for founders worldwide.
IBC Media
A Web3 and blockchain education company in Hyderabad, running developer programmes, student hackathons and a blockchain conference.
Startup Reseau
Mumbai company that designs and runs accelerator, incubation and market-access programmes for corporates, governments and universities, alongside its own founder programmes.
Aravali Incubation
A Kaushalam Foundation initiative in Jaipur that runs an entrepreneurship training camp for students.
Edugild
MIT India's innovation and incubation centre in Pune, open to any student in India, with rolling applications and no fee.
Nutrihub TBI
A DST-supported technology business incubator for millet and nutri-cereal startups, hosted by ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research in Hyderabad. It runs funding calls, short entrepreneur training and incubation support.
SKN Agri-Business Incubator
Agri-business incubator of Sri Karan Narendra Agriculture University in Jobner, near Jaipur, offering grant-in-aid and training to agri innovators and students of Rajasthan.
WeIncubate
Incubator with programmes for students, existing businesses and new entrepreneurs, plus school and college sessions and bootcamps.
NSUT IIF
Startup incubator of Netaji Subhas University of Technology (NSUT), Delhi, based on the NSUT campus in Dwarka.
isetilab incubator foundation
Bengaluru incubator with a pre-incubation programme for idea-stage founders, a six-month incubation programme, FAB Labs access and IP support.
Student-focused programmes are usually run by a college or university, and they are designed for people who are still studying: an idea or a first prototype, flexible hours, and mentors who understand a timetable. Some are open to students of that institute only, and some take students from any college.
The usual route is a pre-incubation or campus track, where you are supported while the idea is tested and before you set up a company. A programme may allow you to apply as a team of students, and some require a faculty member to sponsor or mentor the project.
If you are close to graduating, look at whether the programme lets you stay on after you leave, because some limit support to current students and some extend it to recent alumni.
The numbers on this page
- 70 of the 2429 incubators, accelerators and programmes we list in India (3%) are on this page.
- By organisation type, the most common are Incubator (50), Academic (26) and NGO / Foundation (9). One organisation can carry more than one type.
- By stage focus, the most listed are Ideation (41), Validation (31) and Early Revenue (14).
- By sector, the most listed are AgriTech (16), Deep Tech (13) and EdTech (12).
- By state, most are in Maharashtra (13), Karnataka (8) and Gujarat (7).
- By city, most are in Bengaluru (5), Hyderabad (5) and Pune (5).
- 19 of 70 offer coworking space on site.
What to confirm before you apply
- Is the programme open to students of any college, or only its own?
- Do you need a faculty sponsor, or can a team of students apply directly?
- Is there a pre-incubation track for an idea that is not yet a company?
- Can you stay on after you graduate?
- Does the programme take equity or charge a fee?
- Does it help you register a company if the idea works?
Frequently asked questions
How many programmes for student founders are listed?
We list 70 organisations on this page, each listed under student founders. The count changes as profiles are added and checked.
Can I apply while I am still studying?
Yes for these programmes, since they list student founders. Eligibility differs on whether you must be at that institute, so read the programme's own page.
Do I need a registered company to join?
Many campus programmes accept an idea or a prototype and help you set up the company later. Check whether the programme you choose does.
Does the tag mean every programme at the organisation is for this group?
No. It means the organisation says it supports this group. Some run a dedicated programme and some include it among several. Open the profile to see what is on offer.