Ideathon
A programme by Incubation Centre IIT Patna
A recurring idea-pitching competition for life-sciences ideas, feeding into BioNEST incubation. Its most recent edition, Ideathon 2.0, closed in March 2025.
At a glance
| Best for | Students, staff and startup enthusiasts with early-stage life-sciences ideas |
|---|---|
| Stage | Idea |
| Format | In person |
| Cost | Free |
| Run with | Central University of South Bihar, Gaya, BIRAC-BioNEST |
About Ideathon
Ideathon is a competition IC IITP runs to surface life-sciences ideas for its BioNEST biotechnology lab, in past editions run with the Department of Life Science at the Central University of South Bihar, Gaya. Its second edition, Ideathon 2.0, closed its submissions in March 2025 and held a final pitching round the same month, so treat the format as recurring but currently between editions.
What you get
- Cash prizes for the top ideas
- A chance for the top 20 ideas and prize winners to be incubated at BioNEST
- Mentorship on assessing the commercial potential of an idea and turning it into a product or service
- Help finding co-founders, consultants or complementary teammates
Who can apply
- Students, faculty and staff of the host institutions, and outside startup enthusiasts, with ideas in food technology, agri-tech, microbiology, biosensors, bio-electronics, nanotechnology, biotechnology or sustainable waste management
How selection works: submitted ideas are reviewed, and the top 20 present to an expert panel in a final pitching round.
Where to apply
Other Incubation Centre IIT Patna programmes
- Resident / Non-Resident Incubation ProgrammeIC IITP's core incubation track for ESDM, medical-electronics and ICT hardware startups, with lab access, mentoring and a seed fund.
- Pre-Incubation ProgrammeA short, no-cost stage for teams not yet ready to pitch for full incubation.
- BioNEST-ICIITPA BIRAC and DBT-backed incubation track for life-sciences, MedTech and biotech founders, with its own dedicated space and labs.
- NIDHI PrayasDST's prototype-development scheme, hosted at IC IITP; its most recent application window has closed.
- NIDHI-EIRA DST entrepreneur-in-residence stipend, hosted at IC IITP, for a founder to work full-time on a technology business idea for a year.
- Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS)DPIIT's national seed-fund scheme, disbursed through IC IITP as an empanelled incubator.
- GENESIS at IC IITPMeitY's Tier-II/III city startup scheme, run at IC IITP across three separate tracks — entrepreneur-in-residence, pilot funding, and matching investment.
- MedTech SchoolA paid, week-long short course on medical-device innovation for students, founders, faculty and industry.
- Entrepreneurship Development Programme cum Internship (EDPI)A recurring, multi-week weekly programme combining entrepreneurship training with an internship, run with EdTech partner Moonpreneur.