AIC Sangam

Choosing the right route

AIC Sangam offers two main ways in: its physical cleantech incubation programme, and its role as an incubator for the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme. The incubation programme is aimed at cleantech teams from ideation to prototype stage; the seed fund route is for early-stage startups that need support to run a proof of concept before they can raise elsewhere.

Who they look for

The incubation programme states a clear set of eligibility criteria: an idea, product or service at the ideation to prototype stage, with a bench-top prototype; a team of fewer than ten people; a startup less than five years old; readiness for physical incubation; and a registered or pre-registration-stage entity. Since the facility is physical and cleantech-focused, applicants should be building in the clean-tech space and able to work from the Gurugram space.

How applications work

The incubation page invites founders to pitch through its "Pitch To Us" call to action, and the seed fund page has its own "Apply Now" route. For the co-working space, the site asks founders to schedule a meeting or book a seat. No fixed deadline is stated for the incubation programme, so it is worth checking the site for the current intake.

A note on names and locations

The organisation uses both "AIC Sangam" and "AIC-Synapses" across its pages, and lists one address in Gurugram and another in North Goa. Confirm the current name and the operating location directly before you apply or visit.

AIC Sangam is a cleantech incubator that supports startups working on products and services for climate resilience, access to sustainable energy and resource productivity. It runs a physical incubation facility in Gurugram, in Delhi NCR, and describes itself as the incubation arm of a parent organisation called Synapses. Its own pages also refer to it as AIC-Synapses, previously AIC-Sangam, so a founder may see either name used across the site.

What they support

The incubator is focused on the clean-tech space. It invites teams whose idea, product or service helps build communities that are resilient to climate change, and supports STEM-based innovations in sustainable energy and resource productivity. It takes startups from the ideation and prototype stage onward.

Programmes

AIC Sangam runs a physical incubation programme from a facility of about 10,000 square feet, offering workspace, a prototyping lab, event space and mentoring for cleantech teams. It also acts as an incubator for the Government of India's Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS), through which early-stage startups can seek support for proof of concept, prototype development, product trials, market entry and commercialisation, so that they can graduate to a stage where they are able to raise from angel investors or venture capitalists or seek loans from banks.

Facilities

The Gurugram facility doubles as a co-working space for cleantech startups, with a prototyping lab, event space, a pantry, a board room, meeting rooms, a lounge and recreation areas, alongside access to a cleantech network. The incubator sits within the 91 Springboard premises in Sector 44.

Scale

On its homepage AIC Sangam reports more than 190 startups incubated and more than 2,050 jobs created, and it counts more than 61 women-led startups among those it has supported. These are the incubator's own self-reported figures.

Who runs it

AIC Sangam presents itself as the incubation arm of Synapses. Its pages also mention a separate sister company, Sangam Ventures, described as a seed and early-stage venture fund; that fund is a distinct entity rather than part of the incubator.

Locations

The operating facility is at 91 Springboard, Plot no. 145, Sector 44, Gurugram 122003, in Haryana. The site footer on the home and about pages gives a different, registered address in Alto Pilerne, North Goa, Goa 403521, so the two addresses do not agree and a founder should confirm which applies before visiting.