J C BOSE UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, YMCA, FARIDBAD

Choosing the right route

• If your team is from the university and has an early idea, apply to JCB-TBI first. Preference goes to alumni and to companies with faculty involvement.
• If you graduated within the last three years and are starting a company, ask about the alumni fellowship.
• If your product needs patents, ask about the patent cost reimbursement for incubated companies.
• If you need seed money, read the seed terms first. The policy describes them both as an investment and as a loan.

How applications work

• Apply online through the incubation website.
• Stage one: submit an executive summary and a business plan, with the team, the stage of the product and the intellectual property position.
• Stage two: present to the evaluation committee and answer its questions. A video presentation is allowed.
• If you are accepted, you sign the incubation agreement, which sets out the rules and the equity holding, and any other agreements that apply.

What reviewers look for

• The strength of the product idea in terms of novelty, technology content and market potential.
• The profile of the core team and its promoters.
• The intellectual property generated or possible.
• Commercial viability, including five-year projections of profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flows.
• The funds the company needs and whether it can raise them.
• Involvement of university faculty, alumni or students.

J.C. Bose Technology Business Incubator (JCB-TBI) is the startup incubator of J.C. Bose University of Science and Technology, YMCA, in Faridabad, Haryana. The university set it up with support from the Haryana government's department of Information Technology, Electronics and Communication (DITECH). It is built around the university's students, alumni and faculty, and it also takes technology startups from outside the university that link up with a mentor or advisor from the university.

How the programmes work

JCB-TBI supports founders from idea to commercialisation. Its stated mission is to help entrepreneurs through mentorship, training, access to funding and a network of other founders. Industry mentors are matched to startups after the application is evaluated. The mentor and the founders then set clear goals together, and they agree how often they meet and in what format. Founders can meet their mentor one-to-one as needed. Incubated companies are required to attend the centre's monthly meeting when it is held.

The centre also runs a seed funding route for incubated companies. Seed funding is not automatic. It depends on fund availability and on the company meeting the centre's eligibility criteria. The university's policy describes the seed money in two ways, as an investment and as a loan that has to be repaid, so ask the centre which terms apply before you apply.

Who can apply

The policy says all applicants are welcome to apply. Alumni of the university, and companies with strong participation from its faculty, may be given preference. The company must be a private or public limited company under the Companies Act, 2013. Recent graduates may get a relaxation of this rule, provided they incorporate within six months to one year of starting at the centre.

Companies promoted by full-time students need a no-objection certificate and a self-declaration about their interest in the company. Companies promoted by university faculty fall under the faculty policies. A company promoted by a government or other employee needs a no-objection certificate from the employer. Startups from outside the university must be technology-based and must have an association with the university, such as a mentor or advisor from it.

What the incubator provides

Incubated companies get office space on the campus under an infrastructure usage agreement, along with access to the university's other facilities. The policy states that startups are incubated without rent, and it also says that incubation charges are payable in advance against a security deposit. These two statements do not match, so check the current charges with the centre. Companies that hold a stake in the business as founders can get a discount on incubation charges, which is larger for students than for faculty and alumni.

The university's policy also covers patents. Incubated start-ups can have the cost of filing and prosecuting a patent application reimbursed, up to a limit on the number of companies and a cap per patent. The university also runs patent drafting exercises for student teams.

For alumni who start a company within three years of graduating, the policy provides a fellowship. The fellow receives a monthly research-assistant stipend for up to eleven months, and the fellowship is set out in a separate agreement.

How long companies stay

An incubated company's first term is eleven months. Extensions are decided by the incubation centre at its discretion, based on the company's performance and on the facilities available. The policy gives two different maximum stays, two years in one section and three years in another, so confirm the limit when you apply.

Equity

The policy says the institute may take between 2% and 9.5% equity or stake in a start-up, based on the brand used, faculty contribution, support provided and use of the institute's intellectual property. The incubation agreement sets out the equity holding for each company.

Scale

The pages read do not publish a count of companies incubated, funded or still active, so this page gives no such figure.

Who runs it

JCB-TBI is run through the university's Incubation Foundation, which has a team of directors listed on the site. The vice-chancellor's message describes it as a launchpad for deep-tech work in areas such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, biotechnology and sustainable technologies.

Locations

JCB-TBI is based on the university campus in Faridabad, Haryana.