DST-GDC I-NCUBATE : Application Form

Dear Applicant,

Welcome to the DST-GDC I-NCUBATE program.

This program is brought to you by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India (DST) and GDC, IIT Madras. It is a carefully curated program aimed at improving the entrepreneurial thinking and capabilities of faculty, researchers, and students from STEM institutions who desire to commercialise their research through deep-tech startups. This program is funded by DST and GDC, IIT Madras. However, the program demands a fair amount of time and personal commitment of the participants to effect a personal transformation!

This program is for you if you are an academic faculty or researcher desiring to convert your scientific research into a deep-tech startup to solve India’s complex socio-economic development challenges. You will be exposed to a transformative learning experience by an immersive exposure to the following areas:

1. What does it take to become an entrepreneur of a high-impact and scalable startup?
2. How does one develop an entrepreneurial mindset?
3. How can you improve your business acumen to transform your lab-based invention into an innovation and further into a high-impact venture?
4. What steps do founders and entrepreneurs take to transform their lab-based innovations into a successful startup that create socio-economic impact at scale?

GDC will offer ten cohorts (each cohort being an 8-week program in hybrid mode) under the first round of the DST-GDC I-NCUBATE Program, with the first cohort starting on 8th December 2024.

The Program is intensive and will demand significant time and commitment from the participants. Therefore, you are advised to carefully read through this document's  "Guidelines" and "Program Requirements" sections and assess your suitability for the DST-GDC I-NCUBATE program. We also recommend that you watch the INFORMATION VIDEO on our Website.

Please note that the applications are now open for Cohort 06 which is starting on October 04th 2025.

We will contact you once we have received and reviewed your completed application.

Thank you.

(GDC Program Coordination Team)

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS:
 

Please review the program requirements below before you fill out your application form to ensure that you meet the requirements of the Program:

The DST-GDC I-NCUBATE Program is an intensive, practice-oriented program in which selected teams come together as a cohort and undergo structured instruction and mentoring to develop their respective innovations into disruptive startups. The program will run as a Cohort-based boot camp in hybrid mode. GDC will hold about ten cohorts in the program's first round over the next 18 months.

Each Cohort will be an 8-week boot camp for about 10 Startups/Project teams. The boot camp will be a deep dive into Entrepreneurship and Business fundamentals training involving classroom sessions, self-study, and a Customer Discovery exercise. The participant teams must conduct meetings with at least 100 customers and stakeholders. The boot camp will comprise several modules and interactions in various formats.

1. 3-4 days (about 25 hours) of in-person workshops (to be held at IIT Madras)
2. Weekly online webinars (each about 3-4 hours long)
3. About 100 stakeholder interactions that each team will directly set up for themselves
4. Office hours with Instructors (online)
5. Mentorship sessions with business mentors.
6. Self-study for consolidation of learnings.
7. An online, 1-day long Closing workshop.

The boot camp will require each team member to devote about 50% of their time (on a continuous basis) to the Program.

As per the cohort's design, all startup founders and key members of Project teams (including Faculty and Researchers) must attend 100% of the workshop sessions, weekly webinars, and other sessions. This is critical to ensuring the desired learning outcomes are obtained.

Required Team Composition:

Each Participant team should comprise of 3-4 members with the following composition:

• Faculty Lead / Principal Investigator (FL)—Each team should have at least one Faculty Lead/Principal Investigator guiding and leading the science and technology development. This person could be a faculty member at a leading university or a scientist in            a recognised laboratory, and they would serve as the team's lead technical expert.
• Founders / Entrepreneur Leads (EL)—Each team must have at least two members (a maximum of 3 allowed) who possess good knowledge of the technology/innovation and have been working intimately with the Faculty Lead. It is assumed that the ELs are keen to become startup founders. Therefore, the ELs must demonstrate a deep commitment to starting a commercial venture based on innovation and be willing to explore further what it takes for them to become founders of the startup.
• One Business Mentor: A business mentor will be assigned by  GDC to guide the team.

It may be noted that it is not a prerequisite that the team has incorporated a startup before applying to the program, but it is essential that the FL and ELs are committed to entrepreneurship and creating a startup based on their innovation.

Who should apply?

• Faculty, Researchers, and Students from Indian STEM universities who have decided to commercialise their ideas or research. The program is domain-agnostic, and any innovation based on one or more STEM disciplines is acceptable.
• The technology should be at least at the TRL 3 (Initial Prototype) stage and not beyond the TRL 5 stage of development. The team or startup should have a prototype or proof of technology demonstrating that the underlying science and technology are feasible. Teams can present one of several options as proof of technology - including a working prototype, an algorithm, a successful in vitro/in vivo experiment, or any other method that demonstrates the feasibility of the underlying technology.
• It is not a pre-requisite for being selected to the Program that you have a patent or a published paper.
• You may or may not have incorporated a Startup, but it is essential to demonstrate your intent and commitment to have a scalable startup. Such commitment can be evidenced by the extent of work the core team members have collectively put in towards how you will proceed with your startup (irrespective of the DST-GDC program) regarding activities such as prototype development/testing, incubation, building your organisation, raising funds from external investors, generating revenues, etc.
• The team must have at least two entrepreneurs (or co-founders) and one technology expert (faculty/scientist/principal investigator) who will be the Faculty Lead. The core team must have worked together for at least six months on the innovation/technology and be well-versed in the nuances of the project.
• Each member of the applicant team should commit to adhering to confidentiality terms and other program requirements, including participating with other teams or startups as part of a Cohort.
• The team/Startup should be willing to undergo intensive entrepreneurship training and business mentorship as part of the DST-GDC I-NCUBATE program, including devoting the required time.

Time Commitment:

• The DST-GDC I-NCUBATE Program demands a significant time commitment from  the Faculty Lead and all the Entrepreneur Leads. The time commitment is indicated in the “Program Requirements” section, and all team members must attend 100% of all workshop and webinar sessions.
• Team members must complete the required assignments and team activities and conduct at least 100 customer discussions, all of which will consume time.
• Intermittent attendance at the workshop sessions and webinars is unacceptable. It results in sub-optimal learning outcomes for you  and your team and erodes the learning of the other teams in the cohort.
• All participants must complete the required readings, assignments and team activities during the 8 weeks.
• ELs are also expected to participate in one-on-one Office Hours with instructors every week.
• A GDC-assigned Business Mentor will join your team during the cohort and        provide guidance and feedback outside the online sessions/webinars.
• ELs must budget sufficient time every week for about 15 customer interviews/discussions - Time will be required for various activities, including scheduling appointments, preparing for interviews, and conducting interviews. They should also budget time for team discussions, analysing and interpreting their interviews and preparing for weekly webinars.
• The following indicates the expected time commitment for each Team Member during the program.
  • Faculty Lead(s) - FL:
    • Participate in all in-person online webinar sessions, as indicated above (this will require about 40 hours of synchronous time over eight weeks).
    • Spend 2-3 hours weekly with ELs (depending on the team’s requirement) to discuss findings and learnings from customer discussions or help with technology-related issues.
  • Entrepreneur Leads - EL:
    • Participate in all workshop sessions, weekly webinars and Office Hours, as indicated above (~50 hours over 8 weeks);
    • In addition, ELs should allocate about 50% of their time every week to complete required readings, assignments, and team activities and conduct ~ 15 customer discovery meetings per week, i.e., at least 100 customer discovery discussions over 8 weeks.

 

GUIDELINES:

• Your responses will be saved only if you click Save, Next or Back.
• Once you have completed your application form, click Submit. GDC will receive your application only after you click Submit.
• Please save a copy of the submitted application for your reference (before you click the ‘Submit’ button).
• You will not be able to edit your application form after you have submitted it. Please review your application carefully before you click Submit.

NOTE: If   you need to update your application after submitting it, please email surya@gdciitm.org with the subject line ‘DST-GDC I-NCUBATE Program—Request to update application’. You may update your application form that has been submitted until the last submission date.

Part 2: Potential commercial impact of your innovation/idea.

Part 3: Current status of your product/solution and next steps.