JANSONS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Choosing the right route

• If you are a student, alumni, faculty member or staff member of the institute, you can apply to the centre.
• If you are an outside entrepreneur, you can still submit your idea, prototype or business model through the same route.
• Virtual incubation is available for founders who do not want to be physically present.

How to apply

• Register on the YUKTI national innovation repository portal and submit your idea, prototype or business model.
• Ideas are expected at TRL 1 to 3. Prototypes are expected at TRL 4 to 9.
• The centre's policy describes a fuller plan after the first assessment. Prepare the problem and solution fit, the market size and target customers, your competitive advantage and your business model.

How selection works

• The centre's experts assess the business plan first.
• Applicants may be invited to present their proposal to expert members.
• The centre decides case by case whether to extend or graduate a company.

What reviewers look for

• Clear evidence that the problem and the solution fit together.
• Technology readiness, manufacturing readiness and business model readiness.
• Clear rights to the intellectual property behind the product, including consent where the work was created at the institute.

Jansons Institute of Technology is an engineering college in Karumathampatti, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Its Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) helps people turn ideas, prototypes and business models into companies. The institute states that it is approved by AICTE, affiliated to Anna University and accredited by NAAC with an 'A' grade.

How the incubator works

CIIE commenced operations in 2022, with guidance from the Jansons Foundation and the institute. It was set up to build an entrepreneurial ecosystem in the region. The centre describes its focus as businesses developing new products that help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

The centre measures readiness in three ways: Technology Readiness Levels (TRL), Manufacturing Readiness Levels (MRL) and Investment Readiness Levels (IRL). An idea should sit at TRL 1 to 3. A prototype is expected at TRL 4 to 9. The centre helps teams move a technology up these levels and reach the market and investors.

The default incubation period is 24 months. The centre can extend this to 36 months. A company can graduate when its tenure ends, when it has more than 20 employees, or after a large investment or a sustained rise in income or profit. The centre decides these cases one by one. Its policy also describes a revenue-sharing arrangement with the institute for three years from the date of graduation.

Who can apply

Academic members, regular students, recent graduates, alumni, faculty and staff of the institute can submit ideas, innovations, business models and startups. Entrepreneurs outside the institute can also submit. Teams register on the YUKTI national innovation repository portal and submit their idea, prototype or business model there. The institute evaluates the submission, and the result shows in the portal.

How applications are assessed

Applicants first receive an initial assessment. If it is positive, they submit a fuller plan. The plan covers problem and solution fit, product and market fit, the size of the market and the intended customers, the competitive advantage, and business model fit. It also covers the intellectual property behind the product. CIIE experts assess the business plan. The experts may then invite the applicants to present their proposal.

Incubation options

Resident incubation takes place at the centre. Each company that is accepted gets a place to work, internet access, computers as available, a photocopier and scanner, meeting and conference rooms, and electricity. Companies pay a monthly rent and bills for facilities and physical space.

Virtual incubation lets a founder use the centre as a forum for business ideas without being physically present. The founder still gets the centre's resources and advice.

Incubatees pay an annual registration fee. Students, alumni and faculty of the institute are exempt from it.

Facilities and services

The centre has a designated area of 10,000 square feet for new businesses and start-ups. Shared facilities are offered on a pay-per-use basis under the NISP policy.

The centre's policy lists training, conferences and workshops, help with government funding, company registration and filings, networking, accounting, HR, legal support, intellectual property services and mentoring. Where intellectual property was created at the institute, the centre can help a startup obtain consent to transfer or license it.

Scale

The centre says it has developed five ventures that aim to become DPIIT-recognised startups. Its list of incubatees names five ventures, working in areas such as water treatment, solar energy, construction, digital products for MSMEs and photography services. Their readiness levels range from TRL 5 to TRL 9.

Who runs it

The Jansons Foundation, a registered charitable trust, promotes the institute. The institute was established in 2009 as the second higher education venture of the foundation. The institute also runs an intellectual property rights cell, set up in 2018, which helps protect new ideas from faculty and students.

Locations

The institute and the centre are based at Karumathampatti, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.