ABES Engineering College

Choosing the right track

INIF runs its TIDE 2.0 support as two stages, so pick the one that matches where your idea actually is. If you only have a concept you have not yet validated, the Entrepreneur-in-Residence track is meant for idea-to-proof-of-concept work. If you already have a working proof of concept and are trying to get to a minimum viable product, apply to the prototype development track instead — applying to the wrong stage is a common reason for a mismatch between what you're asking for and what the programme is built to fund.

Who can apply

INIF states plainly that individuals, students and existing startups can all apply — you do not need to be enrolled at ABES Engineering College. What matters more is that your idea sits in one of its focus areas (healthcare, education, agriculture, financial inclusion, environment and clean tech, or clean energy) and uses a recognisable technology base such as IoT, AI/ML, blockchain or robotics, at around TRL 3 — meaning you have moved past a pure idea into some form of concept validation.

How to apply

Applications go through the "Apply For Startup Support" form linked from INIF's website. If you have questions about the TIDE 2.0 tracks specifically, the incubator lists a named contact for incubation operations queries rather than a generic inbox — use that route if you're unsure which track fits before you apply.

What reviewers look for

Because INIF's funding comes through a government scheme with defined thematic areas, make sure your pitch is explicit about which of the listed sectors and which underlying technology your idea falls under — that mapping is part of what determines fit for the scheme, not just the strength of the idea on its own.

INurture Incubation Foundation (INIF) is the technology business incubator run by ABES Engineering College in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. It operates as a separate not-for-profit Section 8 company, registered in January 2020, and runs on its own site (inurture.in) alongside a landing page on the college's own website. INIF traces its roots to an Entrepreneurship Development Cell the college ran from 2008, which became an MSME-supported business incubator in 2013 and an in-house Startups Lab in 2016 before being spun out as INIF.

What they support

INIF is a Group 3 Centre under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology's TIDE 2.0 scheme, and it is also supported by the Department of Science and Technology and the Uttar Pradesh government. Its stated eligibility is broad: support is offered to any individual, student or startup with an idea at TRL 3, not just ABES students. The thematic areas it targets follow the TIDE 2.0 mandate: healthcare, education, agriculture, financial inclusion and digital payments, environment and clean tech, and clean energy, generally involving technologies such as IoT, AI/ML, blockchain or robotics.

Programmes

INIF's core offer runs in two stages under TIDE 2.0. The first is Entrepreneur-in-Residence support, aimed at taking an idea from concept to a proof of concept, open to any individual or startup with an idea. The second is a prototype development track for nascent startups that already have a proof of concept, meant to take them to a minimum viable product. Both tracks come with grant support in addition to non-financial help such as mentorship, office space, IP guidance, legal support and connections to production, supply-chain and investor networks. Selected participants and their idea titles are listed on the site as current grantees; some, like NimbleAg (an agritech venture) and YCD Services, have gone on to be named startups.

Alongside its own incubation track, INIF also runs the Network Innovation & Incubation Center (NIIC), a satellite model sponsored by the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board and DST. Under NIIC, INIF partners with other institutions and universities within reach of its campus to set up their own innovation and incubation cells, following the same idea-to-startup process INIF itself uses: idea identification, proof of concept, prototyping, MVP development, a business model, launch, fundraising and scaling. This route is aimed at partner institutions rather than individual founders directly.

Facilities and support

INIF describes both physical and virtual incubation. Its physical co-working space sits on the ABES Engineering College campus and includes air-conditioned cabins, a high-speed network, IT support, and shared meeting and conferencing facilities. Beyond space, its stated support spans technical and business mentorship from industry and startup-ecosystem players, help connecting to production and supply chains, IP evaluation and technology-transfer linkages, legal support to launch a company, and introductions to angel investors and VCs.

Track record

INIF's own site states self-reported counters of startups supported and enterprises created, along with entrepreneurship-training numbers covering students, unemployed youth, faculty and women entrepreneurs it has trained, and a jobs-created figure. These are the incubator's own published counts rather than audited totals, and they differ from a separate startups-incubated figure that appears elsewhere on the wider ABES college site, so they should be read as the incubator's own claim rather than a verified total. Named portfolio companies span sectors including drones and UAVs, agritech, healthtech, electric vehicles, proptech and consumer services; one portfolio company was a runner-up at the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards, and another won an EV challenge at iCreate, Ahmedabad.

Who runs it

INIF is led by a Chief Executive Officer, supported by an Associate for Incubation Operations who handles day-to-day TIDE 2.0 queries. Its board draws on both the college's own leadership (the President and Vice President of ABES Engineering College sit on it) and outside founders and professionals, including directors and co-founders from technology, pharma and IP-advisory ventures, alongside an academic director from a Greater Noida business school.

How to apply

INIF's site links an "Apply For Startup Support" form for founders who want to be considered for its TIDE 2.0 tracks. Partner institutions interested in setting up an NIIC satellite centre are asked to contact INIF's CEO directly to begin a formal partnership agreement between the two organisations, rather than applying through the founder-facing form.