Business Incubation at IIT Bombay
SINE, Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, hosted by Indian Institute of Technology Bombay- IIT Bombay is an umbrella for promotion of entrepreneurship at IIT Bombay. SINE aims to provide enabling conditions that create successful entrepreneurship through the use of knowledge and innovation. To achieve its objectives, SINE administers business incubation activities at IIT Bombay.
Over the last decade, India has initiated the process for transformation of its political, economic and social systems towards a market economy. The emphasis is to create an enabling environment for development of knowledge based, small- and medium-sized enterprises in the private sector. The country has been emerging as an entrepreneurially active nation with increasing quality of entrepreneurship. Business incubators have become an integral part of the support systems for the growth of knowledge based entrepreneurship in SME sectors. The primary goal of a business incubator is to improve the entrepreneurial base and thus to facilitate economic development.
Higher educational institutions are the seedbeds of new ideas and technologies. In order to effectively convert technological ideas and developments for end use, the role of business incubators has become very crucial in providing them close support and nurturing. Developed economies like the U.S.A. and Europe realised long ago the importance of universities in local economic development. Their governments created policies and environment which encouraged the universities to use business incubation as a strategy to achieve synergy and excellence in academic research and entrepreneurship.
In the recent past, the Government of India has also started a number of institution based programmes such as Science and Technology Enterprise Parks and Technology Business Incubators. The focus of such programmes is to provide an environment for reducing gaps between technologies and their commercialisation, and thereby to foster knowledge based entrepreneurship in the SME sector. The Department of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology have extended seed grant support for technology based start-ups. Business incubators in the academic environment provide one more channel for commercialisation of technologies. Leading academic institutions such as the IITs have also started business incubation initiatives. Business incubators also enhance applied research in academia.
IIT Bombay is known for its academic and research excellence. Leading companies in India and in the world, including many Fortune 500 companies, approach IIT Bombay to avail of its technical expertise. They have partnered with IIT Bombay for consultancy and research projects, and student sponsorship programmes. To convert research activity effectively into entrepreneurial ventures, IIT Bombay started business incubation in 1999. With funding support from its distinguished alumnus, Mr. Nandan Nilekeni and active encouragement of Mr. Kanwal Rekhi and other alumni, an IT business incubator was set up at Kanwal Rekhi School of Information and Technology (KreSIT), at IIT Bombay.
The experiment had manifold effects on the campus of IIT Bombay. Apart from successfully incubating a number of companies, the presence of the IT incubator also created environment conducive for entrepreneurship. Students and faculty members started thinking of setting up ventures based on their own technologies and ideas. Students started an Entrepreneurship Cell- eCell, which aims at manifesting the latent entrepreneurial spirit of young students.
Encouraged with the success of the initial experiment, IIT Bombay decided to set up a full fledged technology business incubator to cover other areas of science and technology. Thus, SINE came into being. IIT Bombay and Department of Science and Technology provided financial support to create the incubator's infrastructure spread over 8000 sq.ft. The incubator can accommodate about 15-17 companies. Companies are given fully furnished offices with computers, telecom and internet connectivity. The incubator has modern support systems like meeting rooms, conference rooms which are equipped with audio and video conferencing, pantry facilities and other shared facilities. Apart from the physical infrastructure, SINE aims to facilitate networking and mentoring support, organise showcasing events for incubatee companies and conduct training programmes which are relevant for the entrepreneurs. This support coupled with a resource centre sponsored by the National Entrepreneurship Network- NEN, SINE provides a high quality support system for its incubatee companies.
SINE focuses primarily on the IIT Bombay community for business incubation. It also admits technology based companies with strategic and social values. The quality and diversity of its previous and current incubatee companies, which are from different engineering branches, add to the vibrancy of the Incubator at SINE. With well defined policies governing business incubation, SINE creates a sustainable business incubation model which can be replicated in the academic environment.