Agri. Innovation Center, UAS Bangalore

Check the route before you apply

The centre has two routes. Incubation at the Bio-NEST centre uses the Application for Incubation facility form, linked from the Incubatee Kit page. The Seed Fund route is a national scheme: a news item from 5 August 2022 says you select this centre as your incubator on the SISFS portal. Confirm the portal still works that way before you plan around it.

Pick the right promoter category

The form asks you to choose one category: academic or researcher, individual promoter, fresh start-up company, established company or external registrant. Choose the one that matches your promoter type.

Fill in every project section

The form asks for:

• the title of the project and the relevant area in agriculture
• the project period and estimated cost, with a cost breakup
• the plan of commercialisation, with the time frame and milestones
• the unmet need and potential impact
• the facilities and equipment you need during incubation
• the number of people who will work at the centre

Specific answers on each point are what a reviewer can assess.

Ask before you apply

Call 080-23330153 (extensions 398, 409 or 410) to check that your project fits the centre's agri biotechnology focus. The site does not explain how selection works, so ask the centre directly.

Agri. Innovation Center, UAS Bangalore is an incubation centre set up in 2017 on the GKVK campus of the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore. It helps agri-based entrepreneurs turn innovative ideas into economically and commercially viable products. Its flagship is the Bio-NEST agri innovation centre, which focuses on agri biotechnology.

How the incubator works

The centre offers expert mentorship and the space and facilities a start-up needs to build its product. Its own about page says the Bio-NEST incubator will cater to a total of 30 incubatees over three years, and that the university's start-up work was recognised by BIRAC and DBT in 2021, when funding for the Bio-NEST centre was approved. The page does not give the funding period.

The focus is agri biotechnology, including crop improvement biotechnologies, bio-fertilisers, bio-pesticides, biofuel, tissue culture, aeroponics and hydroponics.

Services and facilities

The Knowledge cell catalogues commercialised technologies from the university and other sources for startups, and it also covers market and competitor analysis. A Biological Material Repository makes biological material available to students, academicians and startups for research and commercialisation. Laboratories and other infrastructure were set up to house agri-based entrepreneurs who are developing new products.

Who can apply

The incubation application, titled Application for Incubation facility, asks the applicant to choose a promoter category: academic or researcher, individual promoter, fresh start-up company, established company or external registrant. The form is therefore not limited to university staff. The site does not state any other eligibility rule, such as location or incorporation.

The Seed Fund route

The centre is also named as an incubator for the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme. A news item dated 5 August 2022 said interested startups can apply through the SISFS portal and select the centre as their incubator. The scheme is created by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and aims to fund proof of concept, prototype development, product trials, market entry and commercialisation. The site does not confirm that this route is still open.

Technologies from the university

The centre lists university technologies that may be taken forward: value-added products from millets, jackfruit and maize; bio-prospecting research that has identified richer sources of shikimic acid and camptothecin; new crop hybrids in sunflower, maize and rice; and agricultural equipment, including machines and gadgets. These come from the university's research, so ask the centre how a technology can be taken up before you plan around one.

Partners and collaboration

The about page says the university has active MOUs and strong collaboration with incubators such as C-CAMP, Bangalore. It also names a business incubator under the Government of Karnataka as a collaborator.

Scale

The home page shows self-reported counters with no date: 80 total startups, 39 graduated startups, 70 programmes organised, more than 1,000 jobs created and 22,500 participants trained. Treat them as the centre's own figures.

Membership

Alongside incubation, the centre runs a paid membership with a one-time registration fee and an annual fee, set by member category, from farmers and individuals to multinational companies.

Events and notices

The home page carries a notice for a one-day workshop on digital innovation in agriculture, announced in January 2024, and a registration notice for a session on empowering entrepreneurs through mushroom cultivation. The Incubation call page exists but carries no call text, so the site does not show an open intake.

Where it is and who runs it

The centre is at the GKVK campus in Bangalore, Karnataka 560065. Dr. Veena S Anil is listed as Principal Investigator and Coordinator, and Nandini C L as CEO.