Akshaya College of Engineering and Technology

Choosing the right route

• For a startup or student project idea, start with the Akshaya Thulir incubation centre.
• For a woman innovator, self-help group member or individual, use the Women Entrepreneurs Program form.
• Students and faculty can start with the college's Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centre.

How to apply

• Use the contact page on the Akshaya Thulir website for the incubation centre. The page does not list a deadline.
• Use the Apply for Support form for the women entrepreneurs programme.

Check these first

• The Pre-Incubation Centre is described as sanctioned and being set up. Ask whether it is open before you plan around it.
• The incubation pages do not state eligibility criteria or a selection process. Ask for them directly.

Akshaya College of Engineering and Technology (ACET) is an engineering college in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, established in 2009 by the Akshaya Charitable Trust. Its startup support runs through two bodies: an in-house Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centre, and Akshaya Thulir Incubation Foundation, a Section 8 non-profit company that runs the incubation centre.

How the startup support is organised

The college's Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centre was established in 2015 to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship among students and faculty. Its page describes mentoring, incubation support, industry interaction and capacity building. The college states that it was approved as an MSME Host Institution for Business Incubator with effect from 1 January 2025.

Akshaya Thulir Incubation Foundation, known as ATIF or Akshaya Thulir, is a Section 8 non-profit company registered under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Its incubation centre offers idea validation, access to government schemes and investors, mentorship, and business management and technical skill training, for startups and student projects. A separate women entrepreneurs programme offers mentorship, funding support and business ideation to women innovators, self-help group members and individuals. It recommends suitable government schemes after a short application form.

Pre-incubation centre

The college's pages say that StartupTN sanctioned the college to set up a Pre-Incubation Centre in February 2026. The centre is part of the state's plan to set up such centres across Tier II, III and IV cities in Tamil Nadu. The planned support covers idea validation and market research, prototype and proof-of-concept development, mentorship and networking, and entrepreneurship workshops. The pages describe this as a sanctioned centre being set up. We have not confirmed that it is operating, so check with the college before planning around it.

Industry and research links

The college's Industry Institute Partnership Cell runs industry projects, guest lectures and industry-empowered laboratories. Ideas that come out of these activities are the kind the centre tries to move into ventures. The college's pages also record a selection for the Seed Track of the IIT Madras Entrepreneurship Development Drive for 2025 to 2026, announced in September 2025, and an active institutional partnership with the Wadhwani Foundation for entrepreneurship education. The Institution's Innovation Council is part of the Ministry of Education's innovation network and is set up to organise hackathons, idea competitions and IPR activity.

Who can apply

Students and faculty of the college can use the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centre for ideas and training. ATIF's incubation centre is aimed at startups and student projects. The women entrepreneurs programme is aimed at women innovators, self-help group members and individuals. The pages do not state an application deadline or a selection process for the incubation centre, so ask before you apply.

Who runs it

The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centre is coordinated by staff coordinators named on its page. ATIF lists a board of directors that includes an investor and strategic mentor, a development and business management lead, and an academic and college collaboration lead. A core team covers documentation, funding and academic operations.

Location and contact

The college is on Bhagavathipalayam Road in Kinathukadavu, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 642109. The college's general inbox is info@acetcbe.edu.in. ATIF is reached through the contact page on its website, akshayathulir.com.

Where to look next

The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centre page links to its activity reports for 2021 to 2026, which show what the centre has run over that period. The college's research pages list funding calls from national agencies, including ICMR, ANRF, SERB and DST. Those calls are aimed at academic researchers, so check each notice for who may apply before you assume a startup can take part.