LV Prasad Eye Institute BioNEST Incubator

Before you write

• The incubator publishes no open call. Treat the first contact as an enquiry, not an application.
• Write to incubation@lvpei.org, the address behind the Collaborate with us button on the incubation page.
• Say plainly what you are building for eye health, and what stage it is at. LVPEI's pages state no preferred stage.

Questions worth asking

• Is the incubator taking applications now, and through what process?
• Is there a fee, and does the incubator take equity? Its pages state neither.
• Do founders from outside LVPEI join directly, or only through the StartUp Challenge?

The StartUp Challenge

• The third edition ran on 29 and 30 May 2026 and has closed. LVPEI has not published a date for another.
• A 2024 news report said applicants submitted a pitch deck covering product innovation, impact and market potential. That was reported by a news outlet, not by LVPEI, and later editions may differ.

The LVPEI BioNEST Incubator is the startup incubator of the L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) in Hyderabad. It is supported by the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) under the BioNEST scheme, and LVPEI describes it as a one-stop partner for healthcare innovators who want to incubate eye-health startups. LVPEI's pages also call it the LVPEI Incubator, LVPEI BioNest and the LVPEI BioNEST Incubator, and an older news item used the name BioNEST MedTech Incubator.

How the incubator works

LVPEI says the incubator gives healthcare innovators a platform to nurture ideas, develop prototypes and work towards commercial success. The incubation page it publishes is short. It does not state a fee policy, whether the incubator takes equity, how long a startup stays, what stage of startup it prefers, or when applications open. This page therefore does not guess at any of them.

The incubator sits inside LVPEI's innovation and product development work, which also includes an eye-innovation internship page aimed at designers and engineers. That internship is not described as a programme for founders, so it is not listed here.

The LVPEI BioNEST StartUp Challenge

The incubator's best-known public activity is the LVPEI BioNEST StartUp Challenge, which it runs together with the All India Ophthalmological Society (AIOS). LVPEI has held three editions. The third took place on 29 and 30 May 2026 across its two Hyderabad campuses, Kismatpur and Banjara Hills, and it has finished.

LVPEI reports that the 2026 edition brought together approximately 120 participants, among them innovators, startups, clinicians, researchers, mentors, investors and industry leaders, with support from over 10 industry partners. These are LVPEI's own figures. The pages found cover three editions only, so this page does not describe the challenge as annual.

LVPEI's pages do not say whether the challenge is a route into the incubator, or whether winning is required to join it.

Who can apply

LVPEI describes the incubator as being for healthcare innovators, with a focus on eye-health startups. Its pages do not say whether founders from outside LVPEI's own network can join the incubator directly, and they publish no eligibility criteria. Founders working on eye care should write to the incubator and ask.

Facilities and team

The incubator's pages that would describe its mentors, facilities and incubated startups could not be read when this page was prepared, so none are listed here. Nothing found states that the incubator offers desks or coworking space.

Locations

LVPEI's innovation work is based in Hyderabad, Telangana. The 2026 challenge used the Kismatpur and Banjara Hills campuses. LVPEI's pages do not say which campus houses the incubator itself, and no street address or pincode is published for it.

How to reach the incubator

The only route in that LVPEI publishes is its Collaborate with us button, which opens an email to incubation@lvpei.org. No application form, open call or intake window is posted on the incubation page.