Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat

Choosing the right route

• Startups that want a place in the incubator should use the incubation application.
• Students and innovators with only an idea or a prototype should look at the SSIP funding calls first.
• Founders who need protection for an invention can apply for IP support through the funding page.

How applications work

• Incubation and co-working applications are made through online forms linked from the ASHINE apply page.
• SSIP funding calls are open all year and are screened quarterly.
• The Wadhwani Liftoff accelerator only takes applications when a call is announced. Follow ASHINE's social media and website for the next one.

What reviewers look for

• A clear link to SVNIT, through a faculty member, staff member, scholar or student who is involved as a consultant or mentor, if you are applying as an external startup.
• A working prototype or proof of concept for the funding calls.

ASHINE, the Association for Harnessing Innovation and Entrepreneurship, is the technology business incubator of Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology (SVNIT) in Surat, Gujarat. It sits on the institute campus at Ichchhanath and works through the institute's Research Park.

How the programmes work

ASHINE runs incubation for technology-based startups. It also gives funding to student teams and innovators who are still building a prototype or proof of concept, and it runs an accelerator with the Wadhwani Foundation for early-stage ventures that are ready to scale. Incubation and funding are tied to state schemes for startups in Gujarat, so the funding calls follow those schemes' rules as well as ASHINE's own.

Who can apply

The incubation route is open to startups. The institute's startup policy says ASHINE gives incubation support to external startups where SVNIT faculty, staff, research scholars or students act as consultants or mentors. Proof-of-concept funding is open to innovators and student teams. Intellectual property support is open to innovators who need to protect a creative or technological outcome. The Wadhwani Liftoff accelerator has no open call on the programme page at the time of review, and interested founders are told to watch ASHINE's announcements.

Facilities and services

ASHINE offers pre-incubation and incubation support, co-working space, a product launch space, seminar and conference rooms, a fablab for product design and prototyping, IP support, mentoring and handholding, alumni connect, legal support and funding support. The co-working space is also rented to freelancers and professionals who are not in the incubator, and meeting rooms are charged by the hour.

Scale

ASHINE's home page lists 200 startups supported, 29 startups under incubation, 51 startups under pre-incubation and 72 proof-of-concept projects supported. These are the figures the incubator reports about itself, and its pages do not state a date for them.

Focus areas

ASHINE's thrust areas are engineering and technology, materials and manufacturing, and energy and environment. The institute's startup policy makes ASHINE the single body at SVNIT that carries out the institute's startup and entrepreneurship policy, so it also coordinates innovation work across departments.

Who runs it

ASHINE is a not-for-profit Section 8 company set up by SVNIT. Its board is made up of institute leaders, and it has faculty in charge of incubation, the SSIP cell, co-working and industry interaction.