TBI

Pick the right scheme first

ABIS-TBI runs more than one scheme, and each has its own audience. Start with your stage and your background.

• Agri startup with a product idea or prototype: the RKVY-RAFTAAR R-ABI scheme, which starts with a two-month training-cum-internship and then offers pre-seed and seed stage grant-in-aid. The current call for cohort VIII closed on 30th April 2026, so watch for the next one.
• Individual with a science or engineering background and a technology idea: the NIDHI Entrepreneur-in-Residence fellowship. It requires you to be registered with the incubator for the full fellowship period.
• Spice-based startup: the SPICES Incubation Centre, which selects three startups through an appraisal committee.
• Startup with DPIIT recognition and an innovative technology solution: the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme, applied for through the Seed Fund Portal with ABIS-TBI as your preferred incubator.

How applications work

Most schemes start with a written application to ABIS-TBI, followed by a pitch to a committee. The Seed Fund route is the exception: you apply on the government portal and name ABIS-TBI there.

What reviewers look for

The committees look for a business idea that is agri-based, technically sound and able to move from prototype to market. Scheme pages also set limits: a startup supported once under the RKVY-RAFTAAR scheme is not eligible again, and foreign-owned subsidiaries are excluded.

ABIS-TBI is the Technology Business Incubator of the Agribusiness Incubation Society, run from the Directorate of Agribusiness Development at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) in Coimbatore. It supports agripreneurs, farmers, student entrepreneurs and other stakeholders who want to build an agriculture or allied sector business. The incubator describes its work as incubating and handholding startups in agriculture and allied sectors.

How the programmes work

The incubator runs several schemes side by side. Some are funded by the Government of India through the Department of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme. Each scheme has its own eligibility and its own way in, so check the programme page before you apply. The programmes page says five programmes are operated under the Agribusiness Incubation Society.

Who can apply

Incubation at ABIS-TBI is for agriculture and allied ventures only. The incubator says it does not support non-agri ventures. Anyone with an innovative idea or a product at the research and development level, and a wish to start an agri-based enterprise, can become a member. Membership carries a fee, and services are offered to members who pay it. Some individual schemes, such as the NIDHI Entrepreneur-in-Residence fellowship, are open to individuals rather than existing companies.

Facilities and services

Incubatees can rent in-house office space on a minimal infrastructure usage fee, with a broadband connection and Wi-Fi provided for in-house incubatees. The incubator provides mentoring and technical guidance, help with patents, trademarks, copyright and branding, quality testing and certification, and market linkages. Startups can use the TBI food packaging laboratory for product packaging, and can run quality testing and product validation in TNAU laboratories at concessional rates. A product promotion centre gives incubatee products a permanent shelf for customers to see them and gives founders a way to test demand. Regular training programmes, workshops and interface meetings with domain experts are part of the membership offer.

Partner roles

Beyond its own schemes, ABIS-TBI acts as a programme partner for several state and central initiatives. Its pages name the PMFME and One District One Product scheme for micro food processing units, the TANSIM TANSEED seed grant run by StartupTN, the IAMWARM irrigated agriculture project, and the TN-AGRISNET youth entrepreneur programme for agriculture graduates. Those roles are run by the state or central body, and the incubator supports applicants through them.

Results the site reports

Incubatees have been named in state seed grant rounds. The TANSEED pages record three startups incubated at ABIS-TBI in the 3.0 round and six in the 4.0 round, and six TBI EIR fellows received a TN-AGRISNET grant. The site also shows past member lists for each year since the early years of the programme.

Scale

The homepage says ABIS-TBI has nurtured over 650 startups. That figure is the incubator's own and is not dated on the site. The RKVY-RAFTAAR scheme page reports 131 beneficiaries and the NIDHI-EIR page reports 31. These figures are self-reported and may count different things, so treat them as indicative.

Where it is

ABIS-TBI is in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, on the TNAU campus. The address is ABIS-Technology Business Incubator, Directorate of Agribusiness Development, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore 641 003. The office is open Monday to Friday and on Saturday mornings. It can be reached at tbi-abis@tnau.ac.in.

Who runs it

ABIS-TBI sits inside the Directorate of Agribusiness Development at TNAU. Its Managing Director and CEO is named on the site. Founders who want a conversation about fit should write to the incubator's role inbox rather than to individual staff.