STPINext OctaNE CoE

Choosing the right route

• For an incorporated start-up, the Open Challenge Program is the main way in.
• For students, the training programme is a separate, paid course.

How applications work

• Use the "Apply Here" link for your centre on the OCP page.
• If your company is not yet registered, you can apply in the promoters' names. Registration must follow within three months of selection.
• Check that the company was incorporated no more than 10 years ago and was not formed by splitting up an existing business.

How selection works

• Applications are screened first, then a shortlist is drawn up.
• Shortlisted start-ups give a final pitch in front of a panel.

What reviewers look for

• The idea and its innovation.
• Technical strength.
• Commercial fit.
• Potential to create employment or wealth.

OctaNE is a group of eight Centres of Entrepreneurship in North East India, run by Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) to support technology-led innovation. Its Guwahati centre in Assam works on IoT in Agriculture, and its centres include Shillong, Imphal and Gangtok. The site calls it OctaNE CoE or STPI OctaNE CoE, and STPINEXT INITIATIVES, a section 8 company, is the nodal agency for STPI's start-up work.

How the programmes work

The main route in is the Open Challenge Program. It is a numbered round in which early-stage technology start-ups apply to one of the centres to solve a problem with an innovative solution. Selected start-ups receive seed funding, mentoring, training, marketing and patenting support, access to the centre's labs, tools and software, and incubation. The site lists OCP 8.0 and OCP 9.0 as recent rounds, and both are now closed. No next round is announced.

Selection for the Guwahati incubation runs through the OCP and other competitive events, such as a hackathon. The incubation is physical and has no separate application, and the site states no intake date. Start-ups may stay up to 36 months, the maximum period to reach scale-up.

The site also describes stage-wise direct support for each start-up admitted to a centre. It is paid at proof of concept, prototype and marketing stages, and can help cover costs such as cloud hosting, mentor engagement, IPR creation, seed capital and marketing. The site describes it as part of a proposal, and no separate application route was found.

Separately, the centres run a paid training programme for students. It is a student course, not a start-up programme.

Who can apply

For the OCP, the start-up must be an Indian-registered company: a Private Limited Company, a registered partnership firm or a Limited Liability Partnership. A company that is not yet registered may apply in its promoters' names, provided it is registered within three months of selection. The company must have been incorporated no more than 10 years before applying. An annual turnover cap also applies across the financial years since incorporation. The business must work on the innovation, development or improvement of products, services or processes that could create jobs or wealth, and it cannot be formed by splitting up or rebuilding an existing business.

The incubation takes early-stage start-ups in IT and electronics. The Guwahati centre focuses on IoT in Agriculture. Students apply to the training programme through its form, and graduates do not need a forwarding letter from their institution.

Facilities

The Guwahati centre offers incubation and co-working, a plug and play space, a startup innovation zone and a domain-specific physical lab. Its infrastructure includes a conference room, an auditorium, meeting rooms, a cafeteria, parking and a gym. Its pages give two different seat counts for the plug and play space: 149 on the centre page, and 200 for Guwahati on the OctaNE overview.

Scale

The pages give two different counts of start-ups onboarded at the Guwahati centre: six on the OctaNE page, and zero on a status counter on the centre page. No count is shown here. The impact figures the site publishes are self-reported and carry no date, so none are shown either.

Who runs it

OctaNE is run by STPI, an autonomous society set up by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in 1991 to encourage and promote software exports. MeitY and STPI share its approved budget. STPINEXT INITIATIVES, a section 8 company, is the nodal agency for STPI's start-up activities. The Guwahati centre lists Kumaran Venkatesh, President and Partner at AXLerateNow, for its IoT in Agriculture work.

Locations

The Guwahati centre is in Assam. The training form lets applicants choose between centres in Guwahati, Shillong, Imphal and Gangtok.