8 incubators for startups to watch out for in Delhi-NCR

Business incubators are known to offer a significant thrust to startups, handholding them to take the giant leap in the entrepreneurial world, or fuel their growth.

Typically, incubators provide entrepreneurs with mentorship, shared office space, access to investors, their network, and other assistance that a startup may require in the early stages.

There are two types of incubators in the ecosystem – government-backed incubators, and private business incubators led by industry veterans and companies. The essential differences between all incubators are how they incubate, structure the programme, operate, the facilities offered, access to funding, and initiatives planned to accelerate the ventures.

For Delhi/NCR-based startups, here’s a list of incubators that help startups and early-age businesses incubate their ideas.

Amity Innovation Incubator

Launched in 2008 by Amity University, Noida-based Amity Innovation Incubator is a registered 'not for profit' society supported by an advisory body consisting of industrialists, venture capitalists, technical specialists and managers established to help entrepreneurs realise their dreams through a range of infrastructure, business advisory, mentoring, and financial services.

Facilities offered: The centre claims to have a vast network of mentors who are a part of the mentoring board, and includes CEOs, CXOs, senior management professionals, renowned academicians, and former bureaucrats. The experts actively engage with current incubates, guiding and mentoring them on the essentials of business. The incubator is also closely associated with Amity Capital Ventures, other VC and angel networks to facilitate mentoring and fundraising advice.

Electropreneur Park

Launched in 2015 under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model, Electropreneur Park is currently incubated in south campus of Delhi University, and is funded by the Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY), Government of India. Electropreneur Park is the first-of-its-kind incubation centre in the ESDM (Electronics System Design & Manufacturing) sector in India. The initiative aims to support 50 startups over the next five years.

Facilities offered: Electropreneur Park offers a state-of-the-art electronics lab and prototyping machines to help startups build electronics products with a short turnaround time. The incubator provides a well-equipped electronics lab, and ESDM mentorship by industry veterans and academicians. It also provides access to funding agencies to facilitate seed funding for promising ventures.

Indian Angel Network Incubator

Started in April 2006, Indian Angel Network is a network of angel investors keen on investing in early-stage businesses which have the potential to create disproportionate value. Members of the network like Padmaja Ruparel, Alok Mittal, and others, have strong operational experience as CEOs or a background in creating new and successful ventures. They share a passion to create scale and value for startup ventures.

Facilities offered: As the incubator is run by members of IAN, who are leaders in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, the incubator, in addition to funds, provides constant access to high quality mentoring, vast networks and inputs on strategy as well as execution.

Information Technology Business Incubator, JSSATE-STEP

Founded in 2000, JSSATE-STEP is an ITBI (Information Technology Business Incubator) supported by the National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) and Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India.

Facilities offered: The centre offers a Plug-and-Play work facility. The incubator’s mentors onboard refine ideas, vet the business plans, and help in creating the strategy. It also provides assistance in fund-raising to accelerate growth and organises meetups with investors and partners to facilitate funding for incubated startups.

Technology Business Incubator (TBI) IIT Delhi

Launched in 2000, The Technology Business Incubator (TBI) is an initiative of the Foundation for Innovative and Technology Transfer (FITT) – Innovation, the industry interface unit of IIT Delhi.

Facilities offered: Product development, product innovations, software testing, simulation and prototyping, pilot experimentation, training and similar other technology-related work.

Shriram Institute –Technology Business Incubator (SRI-TBI)

Located in the premises of Shriram Institute for Industrial Research, Delhi, TBI is backed by Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India. The SRI-TBI was launched in 2012, and provides services in the fields of plastics, rubbers, specialty chemicals, and waste management.

Facilities offered: Identification of product/process, designing of plant and machinery, process development, vendor development, among others.

Technology Based Incubator, University of Delhi (South Campus)

Technology Based Incubator (TBI) located in the University of Delhi South Campus (UDSC) was established in 2009. This TBI is aimed at supporting startups and early-age businesses in different areas of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology with an emphasis on fermentation-based production of different bioactive molecules. Supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), it also has a close association with National Research Development Corporation (NRDC), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Association of Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (ASME), and others.

Facilities offered: Product development forms an important part of this TBI. The centre offers state-of-the-art technical and incubation facilities in different areas of industrial microbiology and biotechnology, aimed at helping incubated startups in developing newer innovation and ideas into feasible technologies and their subsequent commercialisation.

Veddis

Veddis Ventures, with offices in London and Gibraltar, set up its first incubation centre – Veddis Advisors - in Gurugram in 2012. It invests in media, social networking, and information technology companies in Europe, the US and India.

Facilities offered: Besides the standard setup of having space and technology infrastructure, Veddis provides include in-house marketing, SEO and SEM, CRM and website development teams as well as full legal and accounting services support. It also provides business strategy mentoring by a team that has successfully developed and executed strategies in a number of global companies to its incubated companies.