Runway Incubator, UPES

Pick the right track first

The application form makes you choose, and the three tracks are genuinely different:

• Grants — non-dilutive, three tiers by stage, tied to the incubation cohort. This is the default route for most founders.
• Angel investment — AI startups only, ends in a term sheet, so equity is on the table.
• Partnerships — for organisations wanting to work with Runway, not for founders raising.
• "Not sure" — a real option on the form if you genuinely don't know.

You do not need to be a UPES student

Runway describes its intake as sector and location agnostic and open to founders from across India, and UPES says Runway works with startups inside and outside the university. Don't self-select out because it sits on a campus.

Match your stage honestly

Each grant tier asks for different proof, and claiming a stage you can't evidence is the fastest way to a no:

• Idea: a clear problem statement and proposed solution, at least one committed founder, and willingness to do the eight-week incubation.
• Prototype / MVP: something working, plus evidence of early user traction or feedback, and either a registered company or a willingness to register.
• Early revenue: demonstrable monthly revenue or paying customers, a registered Indian company (private limited or LLP), and a clear plan for what the grant will buy.

How selection works

A panel reviews applications, shortlisted teams go to interview, and the decision turns on innovation potential, team strength and scalability. For the angel track the sequence is screening by an investment committee, then a deep-dive presentation to a panel, then a milestone-based term sheet — so come with a pitch deck, a product demo and founder details ready.

What reviewers look for

• A problem stated before a solution. The form asks for problem, solution, traction so far, and why now, in that order.
• Depth, not buzzwords, on the AI track. Runway states that machine learning has to be core to the product rather than a feature add-on, and wants technical depth in the founding team.
• Willingness to be held to milestones. Progress reports are an explicit condition on the early-revenue grant and milestone terms are explicit in the investment process.

Timing

Runway says it responds to every application within 15 days. Named cohorts run to their own registration deadlines, which are posted in the announcements strip on the homepage, so check it before assuming an intake is open. General questions can go to runway@upes.ac.in.

Runway Incubator is the incubation and investment platform of UPES, the university in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. It runs a blended cohort programme, three stage-based grant tracks and a separate angel investment track for AI startups, and it hosts several central and state government schemes on the UPES campus. Applications are open to founders from any sector, anywhere in India.

One thing worth saying plainly, because university incubators are often assumed to be closed shops: Runway is not restricted to UPES students or alumni. Its own pages describe the intake as an "open application" that is "sector and location agnostic", and say it welcomes founders from across India. UPES describes Runway as working with start-ups both within and outside the university. Students are part of the pipeline, but an outside founder with no connection to the university can apply to the same programmes.

How the programme works

Runway describes its incubation as six steps. Selection is by open application. Incubation itself is an 8-to-10-week blended programme, part online and part in person, aimed at refining the business idea, getting the startup market-ready and then investor-ready. Each startup is paired with a dedicated mentor and gets access to UPES labs, workspaces and infrastructure. The cohort ends in a demo day in front of invited investors, advisors and industry people. After that Runway says it keeps supporting startups as they scale, and runs events, workshops and meetups that founders in the portfolio can use.

The grants sit alongside that programme rather than replacing it. There are three tiers keyed to where the startup is: an idea-stage grant for founders who have a problem and a proposed solution but no product yet, a prototype or MVP grant for teams with something working and early user feedback, and an early-revenue grant for companies with paying customers that want to scale. Runway states that grant funding is non-dilutive and that it takes no equity for it. Idea-stage applicants need a clear problem statement, at least one committed founder and a willingness to sit through the eight-week incubation. The prototype tier asks for evidence of early traction and that you are registered, or willing to register, as a company. The early-revenue tier asks for demonstrable monthly revenue, a registered Indian company (private limited or LLP), a plan for spending the grant and a commitment to progress reports.

Angel investment is a separate track and it works differently. It is AI-only: Runway says machine learning has to be core to the product, not a feature bolted on. It looks for a working prototype, MVP or early traction, a founding team with real technical depth in AI, and a registered or registrable Indian company. The process runs application, screening by an investment committee, a deep-dive presentation to a panel, and then a term sheet with milestone-based terms. Runway says it moves from application to term sheet in weeks rather than months. Investments are made in numbered pitch rounds; Pitch 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 have each backed or shortlisted a handful of companies. Unlike the grants, this track does take equity.

Government schemes hosted here

Runway's grants page lists the schemes it holds, and they are worth knowing about because each one comes with its own focus areas. It runs a DST Inclusive Technology Business Incubator project at UPES, approved for three years, focused on AI and machine learning, healthtech, agritech and sustainability. It is supported under MeitY's GENESIS programme for early-stage tech startups, which has run two cohorts so far and covers AI and machine learning, healthtech, agritech and deep tech. It works with Startup Uttarakhand, the state initiative run with the Directorate of Industries, on a multi-sector basis. It is a spoke centre under STPI's Electropreneur Park 2.0 for electronics system design and manufacturing, covering embedded systems, IoT, PCB design, robotics, semiconductors and mobility, which Runway says is still onboarding startups. And it has been selected as a host institute under the MSME Innovative Scheme, working through the MSME Idea Hackathon, with applications under evaluation. A corporate grant cohort has also run with HDFC Parivartan.

Facilities

Runway has a dedicated incubation facility of 7,840 sq ft with seating for more than 150 people and several meeting rooms used for mentoring sessions, startup consultations, team meetings and investor interactions. Beyond that, startups get access to UPES labs, workspaces and wider campus infrastructure, and the angel track also offers access to UPES AI research and compute infrastructure.

Scale and portfolio

Runway's own numbers do not agree with each other, so treat them with care: the homepage says more than 200 startups incubated, while the portfolio page says more than 40, and UPES's own site says more than 250 since 2021. The portfolio page itself names 95 companies across cohorts dated 2022, 2024, 2025 and 2026. Runway also lists more than 25 mentors and more than 20 industry partners. The named portfolio spans defence tech and drones, accessibility, diagnostics, agritech, carbon capture, battery systems, cybersecurity and edtech.

Who runs it

Rahul Nainwal is the CEO of Runway and Director of the UPES School of Business. Nupur Shah leads angel investments and portfolio management. Mohit Nagpal, as Assistant Director, manages the incubation programmes, startup evaluations and partnerships. The mentor bench includes Shilpa Sharma, co-founder of Jaypore; Adit Parekh of Freshworks; Mohit Satyanand of Teamwork Films; and angel investor Uday Chatterjee. Partners named on the site include MeitY, DST, Shell E4, Pearl Academy, Global University Systems and the MaXcel Accelerator. Runway publishes recordings of its demo days, fireside chats, bootcamps and masterclasses, and there is no separate careers page — the site invites experienced operators to apply as mentors instead.

How to apply

There is one application form on the Runway site. You pick a track — grants, angel investment, partnerships, or "not sure" — and a stage, then give a one-line pitch, a fuller description covering problem, solution, traction and timing, your team size and any funding raised. Runway says it reviews every application and replies within 15 days. Named cohorts such as Takeoff 6.0 have their own registration pages, and the homepage carries an announcements strip with the current registration dates.