Technology Innovation and Start-up Center (TISC), IIT Jodhpur

Check your affiliation first

TISC admission is gated to IIT Jodhpur. Before you apply, make sure you fit one of the routes in: current faculty, current students or project staff, external registered companies or alumni with some affiliation to the institute, or an academic or R&D partner of IIT Jodhpur. You also need one or more IIT Jodhpur faculty members associated with your venture, as a mentor or holding an equity stake, so line that up early.

Get the company ready

You do not have to be incorporated to start, but an incubatee must be, or become within three months of approval, a registered unlisted company. A Seed Loan, where offered, is sanctioned only to registered companies, so incorporation matters if funding is part of your plan.

How applications work

Apply through TISC's incubation application process, which runs in steps. Expect to submit a prequalifying questionnaire and application form first, then a fuller application with a detailed proposal and your technology and IP details once you clear the initial assessment.

How selection works

Proposals are screened by TISC and evaluated by expert members, with technical and financial due diligence and a possible presentation, followed by a review from external expert members. TISC holds sole discretion over who is admitted.

What to weigh before you commit

Joining TISC means signing a service agreement, an equity agreement under which TISC takes a stake, and a technology licence agreement. Read the exit terms too: a company moves on from the centre after about eighteen months, and sooner if it crosses the investment, headcount, revenue or profit thresholds set out in the guidelines.

The Technology Innovation and Start-up Center (TISC) is the incubation body of the Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur (IIT Jodhpur). It is a Section 8 company promoted by IIT Jodhpur, with its own governance and a management team led by a CEO, and it operates from the IIT Jodhpur campus at NH 65, Karwad, Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

What they support

TISC backs technology and product ventures that have an affiliation to IIT Jodhpur. Admission is campus-gated: it is open to current faculty members, current students and project staff of IIT Jodhpur, external registered companies and alumni who have some affiliation to the institute, and academic and R&D partners of IIT Jodhpur. Every incubatee must have one or more IIT Jodhpur faculty members associated with it, as a mentor or holding an equity stake. The incubation route is open to India-based founders.

An incubatee must be, or become within three months of approval, a registered unlisted company. A company moves on from TISC after about eighteen months, extendable at TISC's discretion, and also when it crosses defined milestones on investment raised, headcount, revenue or profit.

Programmes

TISC runs a continuous campus incubation intake rather than fixed cohorts. Selected ventures get office space, basic furniture, computers, internet and shared common facilities on the IIT Jodhpur campus, a faculty mentor, and access to departmental labs. Each incubatee signs a service agreement, an equity agreement under which TISC takes an equity stake, and a technology licence agreement.

TISC may also provide a milestone-linked Seed Loan to admitted incubatee companies, subject to the availability of funds. Admission does not automatically entitle a company to a Seed Loan, which is sanctioned only to registered companies and on the merits of each case.

Facilities and support

Incubatees work from campus premises with furniture, computers, internet and shared common facilities, and can draw on IIT Jodhpur's departmental laboratories through their faculty association. Intellectual property created during an engagement with TISC is shared between the company, the institute and the mentor on a fixed ratio set out in TISC's guidelines.

How to apply

Admission runs in stages. An applicant first submits answers to a prequalifying questionnaire and the incubation application form. On a positive initial assessment, the applicant submits a formal application with a detailed proposal and the technology and IP details. The proposal is then screened by TISC and evaluated by expert members, including technical and financial due diligence and a possible presentation, before a final review by external expert members. TISC has sole discretion to admit or reject an application.

Who runs it

TISC is promoted by IIT Jodhpur and acts as the institute's umbrella body for nurturing innovation and enterprise in technology product manufacturing. It is an independent entity with its own governance system, managed by a CEO and management team. General queries reach the institute through its office at director@iitj.ac.in.