Brainware University

Before you apply

• Have a registered company ready, or the founders ready to register it within three months of approval.
• Prepare a 12-month business plan covering the company, the product or service, market and competition, revenue model, milestones, team, risks, funding needs and projected financials.
• If the intellectual property was created at the university, you need a letter of approval from the university for its transfer or licence.
• Fill in the BWU-BIC application form. It asks about the team, the product, the market, competitors, funding, your current status and the support you need.

How selection works

• The team screens your business plan first.
• Expert members then review the proposal in detail, including its technical and financial soundness.
• You may be asked to present to the panel with your team.
• The centre makes the final decision and does not have to give reasons for a rejection.

What reviewers look for

• How strong the product idea is: technology content, innovation, timing and market potential.
• Intellectual property already created, and the potential to create more.
• The strength of the core team.
• How much funding is needed and whether it can be raised.
• Time to market and the expected break-even period.

Good to know

• The MyGov ideas call that an older page on this site links to is no longer open at that address. Write to the incubator instead.
• Write to incubationcentre@brainwareuniversity.ac.in with questions about eligibility or the form.

Brainware University Business Incubation Centre (BWU-BIC) is a business incubator run by Brainware University at its Barasat campus in Kolkata. The university set it up in 2020, and the Ministry of MSME has recognised the university as a Host Institute to run a business incubation centre.

How the programme works

Admitted companies get office space, internet and computers on a pay-per-use basis, plus shared facilities such as printers, a meeting room and library access. The default period of incubation is twelve months, and it can be extended to eighteen months with approval.

Virtual incubation lets a team develop its product using the centre as a platform, without being based on campus. Faculty mentors coordinate the product development, and the service is also pay-per-use.

Who can apply

Admission is open to Brainware University faculty and staff, students, research scholars, project staff and alumni. It is also open to institutions with research collaboration with the university, to government agencies linked to its research, and to others. Every proposal has to meet at least one of five criteria: intellectual property created at the university, intellectual property from people connected with it, strong involvement with university faculty, social and strategic impact, or potential for large resource generation.

Applications are made in the name of a registered company. If the company is not yet registered, the founders can apply, and must register the company within three months of approval.

Services

The centre lists company registration and filings, accounting, HR and legal help, intellectual property filings for copyright, trademarks and patents, training in business management and communication, introductions to angel investors and venture capital funds, and networking with alumni and visitors. Faculty and industry mentoring are arranged on a pay-per-use basis.

Costs and equity

Admitted companies pay an annual registration fee. The centre's published rules also include an equity agreement, to be signed where it applies, under which the centre may hold a stake in the company. A revenue share applies for three years after graduation.

Who runs it

The centre is run by a team under the university's business incubation committee. Questions and applications go to incubationcentre@brainwareuniversity.ac.in. The campus address is 398, Ramkrishnapur Road, Barasat.

Intake

The overview page does not state an intake date. The application form is linked from it.