DST, Intel India and SINE-IIT Bombay Collaborate to Incubate Hardware and Systems Startups

Reinforcing their commitment to fostering innovation and entrepreneurship as a step towards making Digital India successful, Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, Intel Technology India Pvt. Ltd (“Intel India”), and Society for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (SINE), IIT Bombay have collaborated to launch the Collaborative Incubation Program for Hardware and Systems Startups (“Program”).

This is a unique program wherein the industry, academia and Government have come together to support hardware and systems-based start-ups in the country through mentoring, training, lab facilities, hardware kits, prototyping, business services, funding, etc.,

The announcement was made on Saturday in the presence of Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, Mr. Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Government of India, Ms. Nivruti Rai, General Manager, Intel India, Vice President, Platform Engineering Group, Intel, Professor Devang Khakhar, Director of IIT, Bombay.

Nivruti Rai, General Manager, Intel India, Vice President, Platform Engineering Group, Intel; said, “Intel has a strong focus on accelerating innovation and entrepreneurship in India, and we are committed to help enable startups in the systems area, both hardware and software. Along with DST and SINE, IIT Bombay, Intel India will provide the critical support these starts ups need to be able to excel in creating market ready products and solutions.”

H K Mittal, Advisor and Head, NSTEDB (National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board), DST, Government of India, said, “Department of Science and Technology (DST) is deeply committed to supporting technology and entrepreneurship initiatives that are of relevance to national needs. We have had very positive experiences in the past working with both Intel and SINE in the areas of innovation and entrepreneurship. For the first time, DST, Intel and SINE are collaborating to incubate hardware and systems startups in India. I am very excited to be part of this collaborative effort that helps startups to accelerate their product journey and scale their business.”

Collaborative Incubation Program for Hardware and Systems Startups

• The Program will address gaps in the hardware and systems start-up ecosystem that companies face in product design, development, commercialization, and creating scale for their solutions.
• DST, Intel India and SINE aim to support up to 20 start-ups under this Program, and the call for applications for the first batch will be announced in early August 2016.
• During the year-long Program, start-ups will be supported for six months on-site at SINE, IIT, Bombay or Intel India, Bengaluru. After a period of six months, the start-ups’ solutions will be showcased to investors and industry players at a demo day, post which, the Program will extend virtual support for another six months.
• Participating start-ups will be incubated through intensive training periods, one-on-one mentoring, technology related support from Intel experts, business service support from SINE, as well as prototyping and manufacturing support.
• Intel India will:

1. Build capacities through mentors, and provide technology related support for productization, and
   Facilitate ideation, design thinking, prototyping workshops and manufacturing support through industry experts.

Society for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (SINE), IIT Bombay

Society for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (SINE) is the business incubator at IIT Bombay, and supports technology start-ups that are based on products or intellectual property. It has been supporting start-ups since 2004 and has so far supported more than 80 starts-ups. Majority of SINE supported star-ups have become revenue generating, with several having reached Rs.50-100 cr. in revenue, and many start-ups having raised multiple rounds of funding.

Intel India’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship initiatives

• Intel India has been at the forefront of enabling innovations and entrepreneurship among students, professionals, researchers and entrepreneurs.
• Towards this, the company has been driving multiple interventions, including its flagship program – Intel-DST Innovative for Digital India Challenge – which has helped enable six entrepreneurs to change their ideas into actual market solutions, the Intel India Maker Lab, the Atal Tinkering Laboratories, Academia engagements with 200+ engineering institutes and incubator centers, the set-up of 100 Internet of Things (IoT) centers across universities that promote IoT capacity building, design thinking, prototyping and fabrication, among other projects.

Professor Devang Khakhar, Director of IIT, Bombay, said, "SINE is one of the pioneers in incubating product & IP-based startups in India, and the new, collaborative, sector-specific program is further evolution of its activities. The collaboration with Intel will bring in corporate expertise to give new hardware & systems companies in India a vital competitive edge and fast-track to growth. SINE has so far focused on start-ups from IITB. This new initiative, supported by DST, will extend SINE's role to help start-ups across India and increase IIT Bombay's contributions to the ecosystem."