VAAGDEVI COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Choose the right route

• Student and faculty founders with an idea or early venture should start with the ideation sprints and prototyping labs.
• Founders who already have a working prototype or a team should ask about the cohort programme.
• Innovators who want funding support for an idea in the MSME sector should look at the MSME Idea Hackathon.

How to apply

• Email viba@vaagdevi.edu.in to start a conversation about any VIBA programme.
• For the MSME Idea Hackathon, register on the MSME Idea Hackathon portal and select Vaagdevi College of Engineering as the Host Institute.
• Submit your idea with a problem statement, a proposed solution, technology details, the innovation and its impact, and a prototype or development plan.

How selection works

• The pages do not describe how the cohort programme selects its teams.
• For the MSME Idea Hackathon, selected ideas receive mentorship, incubation support, prototype development assistance and funding support under the MSME Innovative Scheme.
• Expect VIBA to offer expert guidance and incubation support to strengthen a proposal before it is submitted.

VIBA, short for Vaagdevi Incubation and Business Accelerator, is the incubation centre based at Vaagdevi Colleges in Bollikunta, Warangal. It is run for student and faculty entrepreneurs and works from the idea stage through to a prototype and, for some teams, a registered company.

VIBA describes itself as a Section 8 non-profit. Its own pages and an older page on the college website give different accounts of its legal form and start date: the homepage says Section 8 non-profit, while the older college page says it was established as a registered society in 2020 and began operations in December 2018. Its startup count also differs between pages. The homepage says over 20 startups have been incorporated, and the older page gives 8 startups. Neither figure is presented here as settled.

How programmes work

VIBA's main programmes are a cohort-based accelerator, ideation sprints, prototyping labs, an intellectual property centre and investor events. The cohort programme runs weekly development sessions with expert mentors and structured milestones, aimed at moving startups from an idea to revenue. Its 2025 cohort followed a published week-by-week schedule. The page does not give a date for the next cohort.

Ideation support takes the form of ideathons, think tanks and design sprints that turn raw ideas into validated concepts ready for prototyping. Teams can use the IDEA Lab and MakersLab for hands-on mentoring and rapid prototyping of hardware and software projects.

VIBA's IPR Facilitation Centre, which describes itself as MSME-recognised, helps with patent filing, trademark registration and company incorporation under the Companies Act. SeedSpark is VIBA's fundraising events programme. Its events connect promising startups with angel investors, venture capital firms and government grant opportunities.

VIBA also runs Industry Connect. It offers industrial visits, AMA sessions with industry leaders, and an annual Entrepreneurship Summit that bridges academia and industry.

Who can apply

VIBA says it empowers student and faculty entrepreneurs. Its labs are open to students and faculty. The cohort programme and the ideation support are described in the same terms. The pages read do not set out a formal eligibility list for the cohort, so contact VIBA to confirm who can join.

The MSME Idea Hackathon 6.0 is a separate open call, posted on 19th Jul, 2026 and hosted through VIBA. It is open to students, alumni, innovators, researchers, startups, MSMEs and aspiring entrepreneurs who are Indian citizens aged 18 years and above.

Facilities

VIBA offers a workspace for its startups. The IDEA Lab and MakersLab provide tools, components and collaborative workspaces for prototyping. The MakersLab is a hands-on product development facility with 3D printers, electronics and fabrication tools for hardware prototypes.

Scale

VIBA's homepage says it has 20+ startups registered and that 9 of them generate revenue. It reports 65+ in idea to prototype, 23+ events conducted and 18+ awards won. Those figures are self-reported and the pages do not give a date for them. Among its awards, VIBA lists a gold at the International Innovation and Exhibition 2023 (INEX 2023) and a gold at the International Product and Technology Exhibition 2023 (IPTEX 2023). An older college page reports having reached around 8500 students across 150+ colleges and 21 states.

Who runs it

VIBA's leadership page lists Viswamber Chandupatla as Chief Executive Officer, Salim Jiwani as Faculty Head Coordinator, and Sai Kiran as Manager for incubation and programme operations.

VIBA's stated mission is to turn bold ideas into real businesses. The operations side covers company registration, MSME facilitation and connecting startups with investors at SeedSpark.

Locations

VIBA is based at the Vaagdevi Colleges campus in Bollikunta, Warangal, Telangana. Its contact details give the same campus as its location.