IIT Mandi iHub and HCI Foundation

Pick the programme that fits your stage

• Idea stage: the EIR programme and PRAYAS are built for ideas that need to become a working prototype. EIR is for individuals working on their idea full time.
• Working prototype: the Call for Innovation is for HCI products that can move towards industry adoption.
• Already incubated at iHub: SSS and DIAL are for registered startups with at least three months of incubation behind them.

Check the calendar first

• The dated calls on the site have closed. Watch the Call for Innovation page for the next round and its last date.
• The CPS programmes show no dated window. Email tih@ihubiitmandi.in to ask whether applications are open.

Get the eligibility right

• The calls differ on citizenship, residency and company status. Check the programme document before you apply.
• The faculty and student-led round needs a NOC from your institute and a co-founder who is current faculty or a PhD student.
• For SSS and DIAL, confirm that Indian promoters hold at least 51% of the shares.

What reviewers look for

• Technology that can be adopted across industries, with a strong translational component.
• Ideas from untapped sources, with novelty and promise.
• A clear path from prototype to a shrink-wrapped product.

IIT Mandi iHub and HCI Foundation (iHub) is a Technology Innovation Hub in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). It is a Section 8 not-for-profit company set up by IIT Mandi under India's National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS), and it was incorporated on 24th September 2020. It works from the North Campus of IIT Mandi in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, and its incubation and acceleration work supports HCI-based products that can be taken to industry.

How the programmes work

iHub's incubation and acceleration section lists a Call for Innovation, its main open call for HCI products, and four Cyber-Physical Systems programmes: an Entrepreneur-in-Residence programme (CPS-EIR), the PRAYAS prototyping grant, the SSS seed support and the DIAL accelerator. Each has its own eligibility and its own programme document, so read the document for the programme you are considering before you apply.

The dated calls on the site have all closed. The most recent one listed is the faculty and student-led call, with a last date of Oct 15th, 2024. The site lists no open round at the time of writing. The CPS programmes do not show a dated call window, so ask the team before you plan around one.

Who can apply

The Call for Innovation takes applicants aged 18 and above who are residents of India. Applicants can be startups, academics or people from mainstream industry, as long as the idea sits in the broad area of HCI. The faculty and student-led round is narrower. One co-founder must be a current faculty member or PhD student at a government-recognised institute, and a registered startup must be less than 2 years old.

The EIR programme is for Indian citizens who can work on their idea full time. PRAYAS is open to individual innovators and startups at the idea and prototype stages, and to students in full-time programmes who have a letter from their institution. The SSS and DIAL programmes are for startups already incubated at iHub. Those startups must be registered private companies with at least three months of incubation, and Indian promoters must hold at least 51% of the shares.

What support looks like

Support mixes funding, mentoring and infrastructure. The Call for Innovation offers funding, help defining product-market fit, and guidance on turning a prototype into a shrink-wrapped product. The EIR programme provides monthly support for 12 months. PRAYAS is a prototyping grant for the step between an idea and a working prototype. SSS and DIAL pass grant support through the incubator, as a soft loan, against equity or as a mix of both. The size of each grant is set out in its programme document.

Incubated startups also get tech mentoring, business mentoring, cowork space and access to labs, as listed on the incubation page.

Facilities

The coworking space is on the North Campus. The Call for Innovation notice says residential and working space is available on campus, and the facilities page shows lab and conference spaces.

Scale

The site does not publish a count of the startups it has supported. Its incubation page lists named companies under HCI themes such as assistive technologies, device-led technologies and experience technologies. That list shows the companies on the page. It is not a count of results.

Who runs it

The director is Prof. Laxmidhar Behera. Mr. Somjit Amrit is the chief executive officer, and Prof. Shubhajit Roy Chowdhury is the project director. Mr. Abhinandan Sharma leads incubation. The team page also lists advisers and a governing body that includes a DST representative from the NM-ICPS mission.

Where to find iHub

iHub is at IIT Mandi North Campus, VPO Kamand, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh 175075. Programme questions can go to tih@ihubiitmandi.in.