UDDYAM PAHSUI FOUNDATION

Choose the right route

• Start at pre-incubation if you have an idea or an early proof of concept. Incubation is for startups that have already moved up from pre-incubation, so there is no separate application for it.
• For the SARTHI call, eligibility is set by SARTHI in its own advertisement and selection criteria, not by Uddyam. Read those before you apply, and do not assume you qualify.
• Solapur Shark Tank is a seasonal funding competition. Season 2 applications are shut; watch the centre's site for the next one.

How applications work

• Submit a proposal to the centre. Its own rules say there is no deadline, and the board committee reviews proposals once every three months.
• The site also has a startup registration form asking for your startup's name, whether it is new or existing, and your mobile number and email.
• The SARTHI call and Shark Tank run on their own dates and forms, separate from the rolling proposal route.
• Some of the rules text on the centre's site is written as plans. Ask the centre which parts are in operation now before you rely on them.

How selection works

• Shortlisted proposals are presented to a committee of the centre's board, which selects or rejects.
• More than 70 percent of selected startups are meant to come from Solapur University's students, research scholars, faculty and recent alumni, including its affiliated colleges. If you are from outside, a strong case matters more.

What reviewers look for

• A clear concept and a development plan.
• Market potential and how unique the product is.
• Usefulness to society.
• Cost and expected returns.

Before you commit

• Ask about rent after pre-incubation and about the equity the centre expects to reserve. Its pages say a nominal rent is charged and that the centre takes equity in stable startups, but give no percentages.
• Ask which grant or soft-loan schemes are open to startups now.

Contact

• ceo.uddyam@sus.ac.in

Uddyam PAHSUI Foundation is the incubation centre of Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Solapur University (PAH Solapur University) in Solapur, Maharashtra. It is registered as a Section 8 company, promoted by the university and supported by the Maharashtra State Innovation Society. Its own pages call the centre PAHSUIC, and it is based on the university campus at Kegaon, on the Solapur-Pune national highway.

How the incubation process works

The centre runs a three-stage process. Pre-incubation is for idea-stage innovators. They get co-working space and mentoring to build a proof of concept or a working module, over roughly three to twelve months, and no rent is charged in this stage. Incubation is for startups that have moved up from pre-incubation and are developing a prototype that can work in the market. It runs for roughly one to five years and brings allotted space, mentoring, training, workshops and skill and leadership programmes. Accelerator is the third stage, for roughly one to three years. It focuses on fast growth, on sorting out organisational, operational, financial and strategic problems, and it ends with the startup being presented to strategic and financial investors. The accelerator is a stage inside the centre's process, not a separate batch with its own intake.

Who can apply

Proposals are invited from any citizen, including students, alumni and faculty. At least 70 percent of the startups selected are meant to come from the university's own community: existing students, research scholars, faculty and recent alumni of Solapur University and its affiliated colleges. Outside founders can apply, but they compete for the remaining places.

A committee of the centre's board meets once every three months to look at proposals. It judges the concept, the development plan, market potential, how unique the product is, how useful it is to society, and its cost and returns. Shortlisted founders present to the committee, which then selects or rejects. Selected startups are placed in pre-incubation and given a letter listing the material, equipment and facilities they can use. The centre's own rules say there is no application deadline, and the site has a startup registration form that asks for the startup's name, whether it is new or existing, and a mobile number and email.

Funding, rent and equity

In the incubation stage the centre says it provides funds or grants as applicable under its schemes. It also says it helps founders apply to central and state agencies such as CSIR, DST, DBT, MeitY, AICTE and UGC, and to angel, crowd and venture funding. Pages do not state which schemes are open today, so ask the centre before counting on any of them. Its budget plan for the first five years includes a seed-money line and a soft-loan line, but it does not say whether either is open to applicants now.

A nominal rent is charged for building space once a startup moves up from pre-incubation. For long-term sustenance the centre takes equity in startups that have become stable. A founder who does well and wants to leave within the five years is allowed to, and the centre then reserves some percentage of equity. The pages do not give the percentages.

Facilities

Pre-incubation startups get co-working space. In incubation, startups get allotted space and infrastructure, with electricity, water, internet, limited server space, a common area and vehicle parking provided free. The centre's space sits inside existing school buildings of the university. Its pages also describe a proposed centre in a new administrative building, so ask the centre where it is currently housed.

Programmes beyond the three stages

Uddyam also hosts the Solapur incubation centre for the SARTHI incubation initiative for 2026-27. SARTHI is the Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Research, Training and Human Development Institute in Pune, an autonomous institute of the Government of Maharashtra, and it owns the scheme. Uddyam is one of the centres named on SARTHI's announcement, which lists an application window from 24 September to 15 October 2026. The same SARTHI page also shows a Closed label near its title, so check it before applying. Uddyam's own site does not mention this call.

The centre is also behind Solapur Shark Tank, a national startup funding competition held at the university. Applications for its second season were open until 31 December 2025 and are now shut.

Partnerships and scale

The centre lists agreements signed in June 2024 with the Solapur Garment Manufacturers Association and with Savishkar Paschim Maharashtra. Its pages give year-wise plans for how many startups it expects in each stage, but no count of startups it has supported, so we do not publish one.

Location and contact

The centre is at the PAH Solapur University campus, Solapur-Pune National Highway, Kegaon, Solapur 413255. Its contact page lists ceo.uddyam@sus.ac.in.