A decade ago, the idea of a student starting a company while still in college sounded exciting, but for most students it was also unrealistic. The conventional Indian education system was largely designed around one objective: complete your degree, get a good placement and start working.
Something started changing around 2016.
The launch of Startup India in January 2016, along with government programmes such as NIDHI (National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations) and the Atal Innovation Mission, gave considerable momentum to the idea that colleges and universities could become more than places for teaching and examinations. They could become places where ideas are discovered, tested, funded, mentored and eventually converted into businesses.
Importantly, it would be slightly inaccurate to say that the government simply “funded colleges to create incubation centres” from 2016 onwards. The ecosystem evolved through multiple schemes and institutions, with government funding supporting selected incubators, Technology Business Incubators (TBIs), innovation programmes and startup-support infrastructure.
The results, however, are quite visible.
Today, Startup India says India has 400+ incubators, while the NIDHI ecosystem has supported incubation through academic, technical and research institutions. NIDHI itself was initiated in 2016 and focuses on taking technology and knowledge-based ideas towards successful startups.
But what exactly is an incubation centre?
In simple terms, an incubation centre is a bridge between an idea and a viable business. A student may have a great idea but not understand customer validation. Another may understand technology but have no idea about pricing. Someone else may have a business model but no prototype, intellectual-property strategy, funding network or industry connections.
An effective incubation centre brings these pieces together.
It can provide mentorship, prototyping infrastructure, technical guidance, legal and IP support, networking, investor access, industry connections and sometimes seed funding.
The Department of Science & Technology describes Technology Business Incubators as mechanisms that help commercialise technologies developed by academic and R&D institutions and create networks between academia, financial institutions, industry and other stakeholders.
And this is where I believe the real value of an incubation centre in an educational institution begins.
Student startups: Great ideas, but also a reality check
I have a personal fascination with student-led startup ideas.
Students are often willing to question things that experienced professionals have simply accepted as “the way things work.” They are closer to emerging consumer behaviour, social media trends, new technologies and changing lifestyles. They also have the freedom to experiment.
But there is a catch ! A good idea is not automatically a good business.
I have seen students become extremely passionate about an idea without answering some basic questions:
Who is the customer?
What problem are we actually solving?
Will somebody pay for it?
What makes this different?
Can we build it?
Can we scale it?
What happens when the founder graduates?
Who will manage the business after the academic project is over?
This is where an incubation centre can play a very different role from a college project guide.
The incubator should be willing to tell a student: “The idea is interesting, but let’s validate it before spending money.”
That conversation can save a founder months or even years.
Incubation centres can become the missing bridge between academia and industry
For years, we have talked about the gap between what universities teach and what industry actually needs.
Incubation centres can help close that gap.
Industry brings real problems.
Academia brings knowledge, research and talent.
Students bring energy and experimentation.
Mentors bring experience.
Investors bring capital.
The incubator brings these stakeholders together.
Imagine a manufacturing company approaching a university with a problem around predictive maintenance. Instead of simply conducting a seminar, the incubation centre could create a challenge around the problem, involve engineering students and researchers, bring industry experts into the process, develop a prototype and potentially create a start-up around the solution.
That is a very different model of education.
The classroom teaches the theory. The incubator teaches the market.
I believe the next generation of Indian incubation centres needs to move from event management to venture creation.
We don’t need another incubation centre that measures success by the number of workshops conducted.
We need centres that can help a student move from:
Problem → Idea → Validation → Prototype → Customer → Revenue → Funding → Scale.
A good incubation centre can change the mind-set of an entire campus. Sometimes, they can help create it. That, to me, is the real promise of India’s incubation-centre movement.
Not simply creating more start-ups. Creating a generation that knows how to identify problems, build solutions, take calculated risks and create value.
Sourabh Tiwari
Founding Partner- Diverse Domain LLP
CEO – Incubation & Innovation Ecosystem
Creator of www.bizreq.com
Chairman- Innovation @ Bhartiya Global MSME Forum
Strategy Consultant @ GrowMSME.in
Professor of Practice- UGC India.