KAU RAFTAAR Agri Business Incubator (KAU RABI)

Pick the right programme

• KAU RAISE: choose this if you have an idea or a proof of concept and want to build a first prototype. Students and individuals can apply, with or without a registered company.
• KAU PACE: choose this only if you already have a minimum viable product and want help to commercialise it. The form asks for company details, so have your registration papers ready.

How applications work

• A call is published once a year on the Kerala Agricultural University website, with a downloadable programme note and the two application forms.
• Apply through the online form for your programme, or send the filled-in Word form to rabi@kau.in or by post.
• The 2026 call had a hard cut-off time on the closing date, and late applications were declared invalid, so submit early.
• Forms ask for identity details, team members, a short business summary, the product stage, how long the product needs to be market-ready, and what support you expect.

How selection works

• Applicants who join go through the one-month training, then further screening at different levels before any grant support is decided.
• Grant support is subject to selection by the competent authority. Do not plan your budget on it until you are selected.

What reviewers look for

• A clear product or service in one of the listed agri focus areas.
• A plain description of the problem, the first customer and what makes your product different.
• Your intellectual property plan, your go-to-market plan, and any customers or farmers already served.
• Readiness to attend the full one-month training.

Before you apply

• Check the Kerala Agricultural University announcements page around April and May for the next call. The 2026 call is closed.
• Read the latest programme note, because eligibility wording and support terms have changed between years.

KAU RAFTAAR Agri Business Incubator, called KAU RABI, is the agri-business incubator of Kerala Agricultural University. It runs from the Department of Agricultural Engineering at the College of Agriculture, Vellanikkara, Thrissur, and is supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare under its RKVY-RAFTAAR scheme, which the 2026 notice calls PM-RKVY. Each year it runs two programmes for agri startups, KAU RAISE for ideas and KAU PACE for startups that already have a minimum viable product.

How the programmes work

KAU RAISE stands for Realising and Augmenting Innovations for Startup Enterprises. It is an orientation programme for pre-seed agripreneurs, including students and young people who want to turn an idea into a prototype. Participants get one month of internship-style, hands-on training with expert mentorship. Those who complete it go through further screening, and selected candidates become eligible for grant support. Students are supported under a separate, smaller assistance limit.

KAU PACE stands for Promotion of Agriculture through Commercialization and Entrepreneurship. It is for seed-stage agri startups that already have a minimum viable product and want to take it to market. It adds validation of the product or service, mentoring on commercial launch, technical and business support, an extra 15 days of incubation workshop on top of the one-month training, and long-term incubation support. After the programme, startups go through further screening, and selected startups become eligible for grant support. All grant support is stated to be subject to selection by the competent authority, so it is not guaranteed.

Who can apply

The 2026 notice invites startups, entrepreneurs and students with innovative ideas who want to start agribusiness ventures. It states no geography gate. An earlier call, in 2020, invited agripreneurs from Kerala and its neighbouring states, and agri startups registered in Kerala or planning to set up an agribusiness project in the state. A company registration is not needed for RAISE, but the PACE form asks for the legal form of the startup, its incorporation number and any startup-recognition and Udyam numbers. Both forms ask for the team, a short business summary, the product stage and a focus area.

The focus areas listed on the forms are agri inputs, precision farming, farm mechanization, agricultural biotechnology, food processing, agri social enterprises, IoT, ICT and AI in agriculture, natural resource management, agricultural supply chain, agri clinics and farm health services, organic farming, and waste to wealth and secondary agriculture.

Intake and how to apply

Applications open once a year, in spring, through a notice on the Kerala Agricultural University website. There are separate online forms for RAISE and PACE, and a filled-in Word form can also be sent by e-mail or post to the incubator. The eighth cohort was announced in April 2026 with a deadline of 16 May 2026, later extended to 30 May 2026. Earlier calls are on record for 2019, 2020, and cohorts four to seven from 2022 to 2025. At the time of this check the incubator's pages showed no selection list for the 2026 cohort and no call for a ninth cohort, so expect the next call around the same time next year.

The older incubator at Tavanur

A separate Kerala Agricultural University page describes an Agri-Business Incubator at the Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Food Technology, Tavanur, launched in 2012. That page says the centre works on post-harvest technology and food processing, including fruits and vegetables, spices, coconut and rice, and that it has designed small-scale processing tools. By its own account it has given entrepreneur support to nine processing industries and has run more than fifty training programmes for entrepreneurs. These figures are self-reported and undated, and they belong to that centre, not to the PACE and RAISE cohorts. KAU RABI's own page says it uses the incubation facilities and expertise already available with the university's agri-business incubator.

Contact and location

The incubator's postal address is RAFTAAR Agri Business Incubator, Kerala Agricultural University, Department of Agricultural Engineering, College of Agriculture, KAU P.O., Thrissur, Kerala 680656. The phone number on its page is +91-487-2438332 and the e-mail is rabi@kau.in. Its website has no careers page and no team page.