Ideate Create (Pilani and Mumbai campuses)
A programme by PIEDS (Pilani Innovation & Entrepreneurship Development Society)
A six-month, mentor-driven pre-incubation programme for BITS Pilani students, run separately on the Pilani and Mumbai campuses.
At a glance
| Best for | BITS Pilani students at idea or validation stage |
|---|---|
| Stage | Idea – Prototype |
| Duration | 6 months |
| Format | In person |
| Cost | No equity |
| Grant support | For selected startups. A place in the programme does not by itself guarantee a grant. |
About Ideate Create (Pilani and Mumbai campuses)
A curated pre-incubation programme aimed at BITS Pilani students who have a validated problem statement but no company yet. It runs as two parallel tracks with slightly different terms — the Pilani-campus edition and a Mumbai (off-campus) edition that also accepts founders based in the Thane-Kalyan region.
What you get: mentorship, knowledge sessions on entrepreneurship and product development, tech credits (MongoDB, AWS, cloud), funding support, and co-working space with legal and registration assistance. PIEDS says roughly 70-80% of participants continue on into full incubation.
Who can apply: BITS Pilani students (entity registration not required); a validated problem statement with early user research; no prior external funding above a small threshold.
How to apply: submit an idea brief, go through screening by the PIEDS team, and pitch to a selection panel before being onboarded into the cohort.
Where to apply
Other PIEDS programmes
- TIDE 2.0MeitY's three-tier national scheme, taking a founder from an idea-stage stipend through to investment for commercialisation.
- NIDHI-EIRA DST fellowship that pays a monthly stipend to an individual founder rather than funding a company.
- NIDHI Seed Support System (NIDHI-SSS)DST seed funding for PIEDS-resident startups, structured as debt, equity, or a mix — not a straight grant.
- NIDHI PRAYASA DST grant to bridge the idea-to-prototype funding gap for hardware innovators, with fabrication lab access on site.
- Genesis (Entrepreneur-in-Residence)An EiR fellowship reserved for founders from Tier II and Tier III Indian cities.
- SAMRIDHMeitY's investment-support accelerator for tech startups ready to scale.
- Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS)The national DPIIT seed fund, disbursed locally through PIEDS.
- Samvardhan (Design Accelerator)A six-month design accelerator for medical-device hardware startups, run with Studio Carbon and taking a small equity stake.
- Sustainability Accelerator (PIEDS x SusMafia)A six-month climate and sustainability accelerator co-designed with SusMafia; currently between cohorts.
- Womenpreneur For BharatA recurring funding and mentorship call for women-led startups in smaller Indian cities, now on its fourth edition.
- SakshamA second women-founder track alongside Womenpreneur For Bharat, also focused on smaller Indian regions.
- Navonmesh Protsahan SpardhaA business-plan competition run with the Ministry of Skill Development, aimed at NSTI students rather than degree programmes.
- Srishti (Hardware Prototyping EiR)An entrepreneur-in-residence fellowship for hardware innovators building in robotics, EVs and renewable energy.
- Alumni Startup Seed FundSeed funding restricted to BITS Pilani alumni founders.
- Mookerji Innovation FundAn equity fund for startups with a BITSian co-founder, run with mentorship from Silicon Road Ventures.
- Smt. Rajkumari Jain Seed Fund for InnovationOne of PIEDS's larger seed funds, restricted to BITS Pilani students and alumni.
- NIDHI AcceleratorA DST-supported accelerator for high-potential deep-tech and health-tech startups ready to scale.
- SIDBI iDEX Startup Seed FundThe largest single cheque PIEDS routes, reserved for defence-tech startups.
- Aarogyam Digital Healthcare AcceleratorA four-month accelerator for digital-health startups, ending in a demo day with grants for the top three teams.
- Susventures Climate ResidencyA one-month, live-in residency in Bangalore for a small cohort of early-stage climate founders.
- IDFC FIRST Bank IGNITEPIEDS's newest corporate-backed accelerator, for revenue-generating climate-tech and health-tech startups.