IGNITE Incubation Centre, Silver Oak University

Choose the right route in

IGNITE offers incubation, co-working and IP courses, and each has a different route.

• Incubation: for a startup at idea, prototype, MVP or scaling stage. Use the Apply for Incubation button on the site.
• Co-working: for shared desks and cabins. Enquire through the site.
• IP courses: for certificate training in patents and trademarks.

Before you apply

• Check your company status. The site asks for a registered company for unregistered ideas, so confirm which group you fit.
• Check your incorporation date and turnover against the limits on the incubation page.
• Call the centre first if you are unsure whether you want incubation or a desk. The Apply for Incubation button leads to a form whose title refers to co-working.

What reviewers look for

• A clear product or process that is new to the market.
• A scalable business model.
• A stage that matches the eligibility text: idea-to-PoC, prototype or MVP, or scaling.

IGNITE Incubation Centre is the startup incubator on the Silver Oak University campus in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. It is run by I-Scale Innovation Foundation (IGNITE), a section 8 not-for-profit company, and is recognised by the Government of Gujarat as a nodal institute.

The centre takes startups from idea to scaling stage. Its incubation sits under the state's Scheme for Assistance for Startups and Innovation and the Student Startup and Innovation Policy (SSIP), and it says it supports ideas across agriculture, IoT, artificial intelligence and IT services.

How the programmes work

Incubation is open round the year. The centre offers mentorship from a network of mentors who have signed an MoU with it, networking, IPR support, access to funding and grants through the state policies it is nodal for, capacity building, and meeting and conference rooms. The site lists two policies under which it provides funding to startups.

Alongside incubation, IGNITE runs certificate courses in intellectual property. An introductory course runs for three months and a patent law and practice course for six months. Both are paid and include a written exam.

Who can apply

Registered startups at the idea-to-PoC stage, or with a PoC ready, can apply. Startups at prototype or MVP stage, or in a scaling stage, are also eligible. The startup must not have been formed by splitting up or rebuilding an existing business.

Unregistered ideas can apply too, provided the product or process is new, the business model is scalable, and the company is no more than five years old. The site says the company must be registered as a private limited company, LLP or partnership. It also sets a turnover limit for any financial year since incorporation.

The centre is open to students and to startups from outside Silver Oak University. A student can start a company while studying. The centre can also connect founders with the body that handles company formation.

Facilities

The centre occupies a furnished space of 20,000 sq ft on the campus. Its listed establishments include an IoT lab, a maker space, an aerobotics lab and an intellectual property cell.

The co-working space offers shared office space for startups, entrepreneurs and freelancers. Its listed amenities include workstations, a conference room, a reading area, a maker space, a 3D printer, a sports ground and 24 hour access with security. The co-working page places the space near Sola, about 500 metres from S. G. Highway. Its home page gives a different desk capacity from its co-working page, so check the current seat count before you visit.

Scale

IGNITE says it has incubated more than 100 startups under the Gujarat scheme and SSIP, and that more than 50 of them have received financial support. It also says it has more than 40 mentors who have signed an MoU with it. These are the centre's own figures, and its pages do not date them.

Who runs it

The incubation head is Nipen Shukla. The programme executive is Pushpali Pitale, and an incubation assistant and an incubation associate handle screening, documentation and coordination. Mentors include start-up mentors and an IPR co-ordinator.

Locations

The centre's address is on the Silver Oak Campus in Ahmedabad, 382481. The co-working space is listed at a separate location near Sola on the same site listing, so confirm which one you will visit before you travel.