VJTI TBI Foundation

Before you apply

• Applications open in cohorts, not continuously. The apply page says plainly when it is not accepting applications, so check it first rather than filling anything in blind.
• Confirm your sector is one they actually work in. The programme is written around clean-tech, energy, IoT, cloud and the cyber security of smart and critical infrastructure, and the labs are built for exactly those. A consumer app is a poor fit here.
• Decide which package you are asking for. The student package is only available to VJTI students, and only once you have a no-objection certificate from the Director of VJTI or your head of department.

Getting your paperwork straight

• You can apply before you incorporate, in the names of all promoters, but you must then incorporate within three months of signing the incubation agreement. Agree between co-founders now who is on that list.
• If you are already incorporated, you need to be a private limited company, a one person company, a registered partnership firm or an LLP. A proprietorship or a public limited company will not clear screening.
• Register with Startup India under DPIIT before you apply — it is a stated requirement, not a nice-to-have. Udyog Aadhaar with MSME is recommended, so get it if you can.
• Check your age from registration (seven years, ten for biotech) and that at least 51 per cent of the company is held by Indian nationals.
• Two pages on their site give different turnover ceilings. If your revenue is anywhere near either one, email and ask which applies to the call you are answering rather than guessing.
• Be ready to show that the intellectual property or know-how is yours. Ownership of it is checked at the screening stage.

What selection looks at

• The first screen is eligibility and due diligence: are you who you say you are, is the IP yours, is your legal status clean.
• The business proposal is then judged by an internal committee on your business model, how innovative the product is, market size, feasibility, how far it can scale, and your financial structure and revenue model. A pre-revenue team is assessed on its own terms, so do not fake traction.
• If you get to the pitch, the selection committee is weighing effort against reward: how complex the venture is, the size of the market, how much money you actually need, how long growth will take and the risk-reward balance. Be precise about what you need and why.
• Incomplete forms are not screened at all. Finish every field.

Before you sign

• The incubation agreement covers physical or virtual support, services, rent, royalty rates, legal compliance, exit terms and non-disclosure. Their pages never state whether equity is taken, so ask directly, and ask what royalty means in practice.
• The fee is described as a recommendation subject to board approval, and it can be reduced or waived depending on your situation. If cost is the blocker, raise it rather than walking away.
• You are expected to work on this full time with no other concurrent commitments during incubation. Do not apply if you plan to keep a job.
• Co-working space and meeting rooms are subject to availability, so confirm you will actually get a desk before you plan around one.

Making the most of it

• If you need SCADA, power electronics, embedded or AI hardware, ask for a walk-through of the labs and name the specific instruments you need. That equipment is the strongest reason to pick this incubator.
• Ask which partner benefits you qualify for on day one — cloud credits, MATLAB and Simulink, SOLIDWORKS licences and the L&T AVISHKAR support are all attached to being an incubatee.
• The free workshops on fundraising and on IPR and patents are a low-cost way to meet the team before a call opens.

Getting in touch

• One email address is published for enquiries: incubation@vjti-tbi.in. No phone number is listed anywhere on their site, so email is the route.

VJTI TBI Foundation is a technology business incubator run as a Section 8 company and hosted at Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute on H R Mahajani Road, Matunga, Mumbai. It works out of the CoE-CNDS lab on the VJTI campus and writes its name both as VJTI-TBI and as VJTI - Technology Business Incubator. Every page of its site carries two captioned logos: VJTI as the host, and the Department of Science and Technology as the supporter, and its own tender notices describe the building work as being done at the incubator under the DST NIDHI-TBI scheme.

Its stated focus areas are clean-tech, energy, the Internet of Things, cloud computing and the cyber security of smart and critical infrastructure, with battery technology, electric vehicles, energy storage, micro-grids, smart meters, power transmission and distribution, and solar, tidal and wind energy all named underneath. Its own hiring page widens that to energy, EV, AI and machine learning, IoT, cyber security and semiconductors.

How the incubation programme works

Incubation runs in cohorts rather than continuously. When a call is open, a startup fills in an online form on the incubator's website; incomplete forms are not screened. The published selection process has seven steps. The form is screened first for eligibility, with due diligence on the authenticity of the applicant, ownership of the intellectual property or know-how, and legal status. An internal screening committee then evaluates the business proposal on business model, product or service innovation, market size, feasibility, scaling potential, pre-revenue evaluation, financial structure and revenue model. Shortlisted teams are invited to pitch to a selection committee, which weighs how complex the venture is and how much effort it will take, market size, financial need, growth timeline and risk against reward. Recommended startups then discuss an incubation agreement covering physical or virtual support, services, rent, royalty rates, legal compliance, exit terms and non-disclosure, and are inducted on signing.

The incubator's pages do not say how long incubation lasts, and they do not say whether it takes equity. Because royalty rates and exit terms are named as part of the agreement discussion, ask about both before you sign anything.

Who can apply

This is open to outside founders. Nothing in the eligibility rules requires you to be a VJTI student, alumnus or staff member; the criteria are written for startups generally. There is a separate student package, and a VJTI student can take it only after submitting a no-objection certificate from the Director of VJTI or the head of their department.

You do not have to be incorporated to apply. An unincorporated team applies in the names of all its promoters and must then incorporate within three months of signing the incubation agreement. Accepted legal forms are a private limited company, a one person company, a registered partnership firm, an LLP, or another commercial establishment allowed under Indian law. Proprietorships and public limited companies are explicitly not eligible. An already-incorporated applicant must be no more than seven years old from registration, ten years for biotechnology, must not have been formed by splitting up or reconstructing an existing business, must be working on an innovative product, process or service with a scalable model, and must be registered with Startup India under DPIIT. Udyog Aadhaar registration with MSME is recommended rather than required. At least 51 per cent of the company must be owned by Indian nationals. Two of its pages give different turnover ceilings, so check which applies to the call you are answering. Founders are expected to work on the startup full time with no other concurrent commitments during incubation.

The programme is written for early-stage teams with a market-ready prototype or proof of concept and no significant revenue yet, and it will also take an idea-stage team willing to build that prototype during incubation.

What you get

Both packages are charged monthly, and the site says the fee is a recommendation subject to approval by the incubator's board and may be reduced or waived depending on the applicant's status. Both include confirmed workspace, standard access to meeting rooms, access to the laboratory, library, learning resources and cafeteria, discounts on the incubator's own events, common office facilities, and access to its mentor and investor network. Co-working space and meeting rooms are noted as subject to availability.

Eight support services are named: mentorship matched to your sector and project, investor connect, lab and testing infrastructure, entrepreneurship training, an internship and recruitment route into VJTI graduates, legal and IP services, marketing support, and business and finance advisory.

Facilities

The equipment list is unusually specific for a campus incubator. A SCADA and automation lab holds Emerson DCS, Siemens and Allen Bradley PLCs, an L&T automation kit, an OSI PI historian, SCADA software, RTUs and industrial firewall appliances. A power electronics lab holds transmission planning and network simulation software, phasor measurement units, an OPAL-RT hardware-in-the-loop rig and DC smart energy meters. An AI, machine learning and embedded systems lab holds a GPU workstation, a rack server, an enterprise firewall, MPLS and ruggedised networking, virtualised servers and an industrial IoT panel. Alongside those are a prototyping laboratory, co-working space, conference rooms with projectors, shared office infrastructure and a library.

Partners

Seven partner programmes are described. Larsen & Toubro Infotech supports the incubator under an agreement called AVISHKAR, covering co-working and lab infrastructure, seed money for selected startups including women entrepreneurs and founders from socio-economically challenged backgrounds, and contingency funds. IEEMA and IET India both give incubatees access to their domain experts, co-organise events, and open introductions to investors, IEEMA in power generation, transmission and distribution, IET India in IoT, mobility and transportation. AWS Activate, MathWorks, SOLIDWORKS and MyOperator supply cloud credits, MATLAB and Simulink licences, SOLIDWORKS Premium network licences, and a call-management kit.

Scale

The incubatees page lists cohorts one to five, dated December 2019, March 2021, March 2022 and two in May 2023, plus a set of pre-incubatees. Its counts of how many startups it has supported do not agree with each other across its own pages. The homepage also counts products developed, jobs created, interns hired, mentors and partnerships; all of these are self-reported and undated, and the awards page behind its awards counter is blank.

Who runs it

The chairperson is Dr Sachin Kore, who is also Director of VJTI. Dr Faruk S. Kazi is principal investigator and faculty coordinator, and is Professor of Electronics Engineering and Dean of Research, Development and Consultancy at VJTI. The board of trustees includes a nominee of the Department of Science and Technology and a nominee of the Government of Maharashtra. Note that the careers page has recently advertised several of the incubator's own senior roles, so confirm who is in post before you rely on a name.

Contact and careers

The incubator publishes one email address for enquiries and no telephone number. Its careers page lists vacancies at the incubator itself and, separately, vacancies at its incubatee companies. It also runs free workshops, for example on fundraising essentials and on IPR and patents.