Atal Incubation Center, Banaras Hindu University (AIC-MFIE-IM-BHU)

Pick the right programme

• Incubation: for startups already at prototype stage or ahead, with a validated idea or solution and a team working on it. It lasts 18 months.
• Pre-incubation (IGNITE with Wadhwani Foundation): for first-time founders with an idea or solution and at least one co-founder who want to get to a working first version in 14 weeks. It is not tied to a sector.

How applications work

• Incubation: fill in the online application form linked from the Incubation page on the centre's website. Do not wait for a deadline: the page lists none.
• After screening, you are sent a detailed application form and a presentation format. Return them by email and registered post.
• You then present to the Incubatee Selection Committee. The centre will tell you the date and time of the meeting.
• Pre-incubation: the centre and Wadhwani Foundation screen applications, and a registration fee per idea is charged. The page links no form and gives no batch dates, so write to the centre first.

What the committee looks for

• A validated idea or solution, not just a concept.
• A passionate and dedicated team working on it.
• A fit with the centre's focus areas: clean tech, IT and electronics, ed-tech, agri-tech, med-tech, tourism, social entrepreneurship and defence are on its home page.

Before you apply

• Ask about the length. The home page says 18 to 36 months of physical incubation, the Incubation page says 18 months.
• Ask about funding. The seed funding page has no terms, so do not plan around centre funding until the centre confirms it in writing.
• Ask about other programmes. The menu lists items such as women entrepreneurship, R&D spin-offs and faculty entrepreneurship that have no published details.
• Contact: aic-imbhu@fmsbhu.ac.in. Use it to confirm the next intake, and the pre-incubation batch, before preparing documents.

Atal Incubation Center - Mahamana Foundation for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Institute of Management Studies, BHU (AIC-MFIE-IM-BHU) is a startup incubator at Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi. It is one of the Atal Incubation Centres set up under Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, and was inaugurated in 2018. It sits on the fifth floor of the CDC Building on the BHU campus and is hosted by the Institute of Management Studies. Not to be confused with the incubators at IIT (BHU), which are separate bodies.

How the programmes work

The centre runs two programmes with their own pages. Incubation is the main one. It lasts 18 months and is meant for startups at prototype stage or ahead that fit the centre's focus areas and already have a validated idea or solution and a dedicated team. Incubatees get co-working space, access to labs at the centre and at BHU, support with intellectual property and legal matters, training on HR, accounts and legal basics, mentorship, pitch deck preparation and mock pitching. The centre's home page describes this as physical incubation and gives the length as 18 to 36 months, while the Incubation page says 18 months, so ask which applies to you.

The second programme is pre-incubation. It is the 14-week IGNITE programme, run with Wadhwani Foundation, for first-time founders who want to take an idea to a working first version. It is sector agnostic and needs at least one co-founder. Applicants are screened by the centre and Wadhwani Foundation, and the page says a registration fee is charged per idea to keep applications serious. The page gives no dates for a batch, so confirm with the centre that one is open.

The centre's menu and its list of programmes also mention women entrepreneurship, R&D spin-offs, faculty entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship training and seed funding. None of these has a published page with terms, and the seed funding page is unfinished, so nothing here promises funding. Ask the centre directly if any of these matters to you.

Who can apply

The Incubation page does not ask for BHU enrolment or employment, and it does not say the startup must be incorporated. It asks for a validated idea or solution, a team working on it, and a fit with the focus areas. The home page lists clean tech, IT and electronics, ed-tech, agri-tech, med-tech, tourism, social entrepreneurship and defence. Other pages give slightly different lists, for example education, health, clean tech, agri tech and livelihood, so a startup near the edge of these areas should check first.

How selection works

You first apply through an online form. After screening on idea and focus area, shortlisted applicants receive a detailed application form and a presentation format, which they return by email and registered post. They then present to the Incubatee Selection Committee, made up of academicians, entrepreneurs, industry experts and a chartered accountant. A selected startup signs an incubation agreement that is valid for 18 months from signing.

Scale

The centre's home page reports 110 incubated startups, more than 1000 direct and indirect jobs created, more than 200 entrepreneurial programmes and activities, and more than 35 onboarded experts and members. It also states a separate highlights count of 100+ startups. These figures are the centre's own, are undated, and are not audited. The page also shows a startups carousel and says it has memorandums of understanding with satellite centres at colleges in and around Varanasi.

Recognition and who runs it

The centre's own pages say it is one of Atal Innovation Mission's Atal Incubation Centres under NITI Aayog, and the Atal Innovation Mission list of Atal Incubation Centres includes Institute of Management BHU (IM-BHU), Varanasi, with 2018 as its year of establishment. That list does not show the funding period, so it cannot be told whether the grant is still running. The centre's page names the Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University as chairman, and its team page lists a manager-in-charge and two executives. The site names several directors without dates, so check who currently leads it.

Location and contact

The centre is at 5th Floor, CDC Building, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh 221005. The website lists one contact inbox, aic-imbhu@fmsbhu.ac.in. Its events page shows no upcoming events, and its jobs and internship menu items have no pages, so there is no careers page to point to.