SRISTI Innovations - BIRAC's BioNEST (SIIE-SRISTI BioNEST)

Check fit first

• Sector: the BioNEST backs biotechnology, agriculture, food, herbal and health products, and environmental work. Software-only and fintech ideas are not its focus.
• Stage: it takes ideas, early products and established small businesses that need help with compliance, quality control or business development. A company registration is not stated as a requirement.
• Grassroots innovators: formal education is not the key criterion. A real problem solved frugally matters more.

How applications work

• There is no online form or published intake window. Write to bionest@sristiinnovations.com or phone during office hours, Monday to Saturday, 10 AM to 7 PM.
• An expert review committee looks at your idea, product or process, then decides. The incubator says the process depends on the business model, mission, future plan and social impact.
• Support runs for one year from the signing of an MoU, and can be extended on mutually agreed terms.

What to bring to the first conversation

• A clear description of the product or process and where it stands today, for example idea, lab scale or already selling.
• The lab work you need done, such as microbiology, molecular biology, phytochemistry or HPLC and HPTLC analysis, and whether you need a desk or only instrument time.
• The help you want: mentoring, patent or trademark filing, quality testing, packaging and branding, retail links, or funding guidance.

Things to confirm

• Which site you will work from. The office is in Ahmedabad and the incubation space is at Grambharti in Gandhinagar.
• What the incubation costs. The site says resources are available at nominal cost and publishes instrument rental rates for academia and industry, but it does not state an incubation fee or whether it takes equity.
• Whether you need BIRAC funding. The BioNEST can help you find and apply for government funding schemes, but BIRAC's own schemes have their own calls and eligibility, which are separate from BioNEST admission.

SRISTI BioNEST is a bio-incubator in Gujarat, run by SRISTI Innovations, a non-profit company linked to the SRISTI society behind the Honey Bee Network. Its own pages call it SIIE-SRISTI BioNEST, short for Sanctuary of Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship, and describe it as an incubator funded by BIRAC, the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council under the Department of Biotechnology. It has an office in Navrangpura, Ahmedabad, and incubation space at the Grambharti campus in Gandhinagar.

BIRAC BioNEST status

BIRAC's own BioNEST page lists this body as "SRISTI Innovation BIRACs BioNest Project". That page was last updated on 01 October 2026. The listing shows 26 incubatees and 13550 sq. ft. of incubation space, split into 19 incubatees not funded under a BIRAC scheme and 7 funded under various BIRAC schemes. BIRAC's table does not give a sanction period, so we cannot tell from public pages whether the BioNEST funding is current. SRISTI Innovations also says it is a partner for programmes of BIRAC, DST, Atal Innovation Mission and MeitY, but it does not say which ones, so we do not list those as designations.

How incubation works

SRISTI BioNEST offers physical and virtual incubation. Its pages describe an in situ model, where grassroots innovators are supported at their own locations, and an ex situ model, where incubatees use the centre. Mentoring covers business planning, proof of concept, technology validation, field trials, mapping of skill and technology gaps, fabrication and intellectual property. Incubatees are assisted for one year from the signing of an MoU, and the agreement can be extended on mutually agreed terms.

Services listed on its site include mentoring by domain experts and an advisory panel of senior academics and scientists, support in finding and applying for government funding, pitching to angel networks and venture capital, brand and packaging help, links to chemical-free retail stores, and help with patent and trademark filings, including prior-art searches. Its pages also list plant site selection, machinery selection, vendor network development and technology transfer.

Who can apply

The BioNEST states that it takes in grassroots innovators with ideas or products, business owners who already run a business but need help with legal compliance, quality control or business development, students and others with innovative project ideas who need help starting a business, and business owners who want a networking platform and specialised mentoring. It says educational qualification is not the key admission criterion, and that its insight into solving a real social problem frugally matters more. It does not state any incorporation requirement, geography limit or age limit. Selection is by an expert review committee, which looks at the idea, product or process and the business model, mission, future plan and social impact. No application form, intake window or deadline is published.

Sectors

The incubator backs biotechnology, biological sciences, environmental science, food technology, medical science, nanotechnology, pharmacy, veterinary work, agriculture and rural development. Its incubatee list is mostly natural food, herbal and wellness, and agri-input ventures.

Labs and space

Incubatees use a microbiology lab with biosafety cabinets, autoclaves and CO2 incubators, a molecular biology lab for PCR and DNA and RNA isolation, a phytochemistry lab for botanical extraction and formulation, and an analytical lab with HPLC and HPTLC systems. An older page also mentions a plant and animal cell culture facility. Eleven instruments are listed for hire on an hourly, monthly or per-sample basis, with separate rates for academia and industry, and a further list of other lab equipment. For workspace, the site lists co-working desks, private cabins and meeting rooms, and its answers to common questions add a cafeteria and conferencing facility.

Who has been incubated

The current incubatee list on the SRISTI Innovations site includes Affinito, a freeze-dried food brand in Anand; Krushimool; Kaps Care; AP Biologicals, which makes microbial products for farming; Pepper Theory; Suncoco; Rumra; and KLOAH. Older pages from the parent site list herbal, food, veterinary and organic farming incubatees, some of them grassroots innovators who developed products from traditional knowledge. The site's own startup counters show zeros because they do not load, so we publish no startup, patent or funding totals from them.

Who runs it

SRISTI Innovations describes itself as a non-profit company set up to strengthen grassroots inventors, innovators and ecopreneurs. SRISTI, the Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions, is a registered voluntary organisation in Ahmedabad that runs the Honey Bee Network. The BioNEST's own About page says it draws on SRISTI's Techpedia database of student projects and on its traditional-knowledge work. Those SRISTI programmes are separate from the incubator, and this page covers only the BioNEST. The site also lists a recurring Startup Growth Meet for founders and innovators, with sessions on government schemes, funding, compliance, branding and investment readiness; no dates are published. The incubator's careers page only says "Coming Soon".

Contact and location

For enquiries, write to the BioNEST at bionest@sristiinnovations.com or call the number on its contact page, open Monday to Saturday, 10 AM to 7 PM. The office is at the AES Boys Hostel Campus near Gujarat University Library, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad 380009. The incubation space is at the Grambharti campus on Gandhinagar-Mahudi Road, Gandhinagar 382650. Its older pages describe the location differently, so confirm where you will be working before you visit.