Incubation

The main programme, and the one open to founders with no Allenhouse connection. It expects a company, or a team ready to become one quickly, and it runs on campus.

What you get

• Office space allotted individually, with a computer on a rental basis, an internet connection and standard furniture.
• Shared meeting and conference rooms with projection equipment, tele and video conferencing, printing, a cafeteria and a lounge.
• Access to the host institutes' laboratories and library, including for developing and testing prototypes.
• Mentors matched to your sector, plus a faculty advisor on technology questions on request.
• Pitch practice and introductions to angel investors and venture capital firms.
• Training on business planning, marketing, diligence, funding and scale-up, and discounts on the college's minor certification courses in entrepreneurship.
• Referrals to legal, accounting and intellectual property professionals. Their own fees are paid by you.
• Help hiring interns and staff from the college group's graduates, and an MBA student assigned for management support if you want one.
• The possibility of seed funding or a loan, which you can apply for three months after admission. It depends on ASIF holding funds for the purpose and is never automatic.

Who can apply

• Anyone wanting incubation who registers a company under the Indian Companies Act. Founding teams that have not incorporated yet may apply in all the founders' names and must incorporate within two months of signing the incubation agreement.
• A private limited company is the safe form. The policy requires a private or public limited company in one sentence and then excludes public limited companies; sole proprietorships are excluded outright.
• The company must be under ten years old, under a stated turnover ceiling, and at least fifty-one percent owned by Indian nationals.
• It must not have been formed by splitting up or reconstructing an existing business, and it must be working on an innovative product, process or service with a scalable model.
• One caveat to check first: the admission section also asks for a recommendation from the relevant head of department with the director's approval, which an outside founder cannot obtain. The eligibility rules plainly invite outside companies, so ask the coordinator how an unaffiliated company applies before you start.

How selection works: you submit the form with a business plan, certificate of incorporation, memorandum and articles of association, your infrastructure requirements and a justification for choosing ASIF. An internal committee screens it, checking the information, your ownership of any intellectual property and the company's legal status. A selection committee of industry professionals, venture capitalists, academics and alumni entrepreneurs then evaluates the proposal on the business model, level of innovation, market size, feasibility, scaling potential, team, intellectual property, five-year financial projections, funding need, time to market and break-even period. You are inducted once you sign the incubation agreement. ASIF says it will not sign a non-disclosure agreement during this process, and that it looks for founders who will commit full time with no other concurrent work.

How to apply: the policy points to an online form, but none is published. Use the application form printed as an annexure at the back of the incubation policy on the institute's innovation and incubation page, and contact the incubation coordinator at innovationhub@allenhouse.ac.in.