IIT Bombay’s incubator, the Society for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (SINE), plans to support 1,000 startups over the next 10 years. This is a big jump from the 245 startups it has helped in the past 20 years. SINE will start a Rs 100-crore venture capital fund to reach this goal.
The fund will focus on deep-tech startups in essential areas like biotech, space, defense, and sustainability. SINE hopes to raise money from IIT Bombay alumni, and it has a strong record of success.
The startups it has supported have an 80% survival rate. SINE has incubated startups that have generated over 300 intellectual properties across critical sectors like ICT, healthcare, cleantech, and industrials,” said Santosh J. Gharpure, who oversees SINE.
Some well-known startups that SINE has helped include Gupshup, IdeaForge, ImmunoACT, Zeus Numerix, Sedemac, Atomberg, and SAFE Security.
Incubator initiates significant venture fund
Together, these startups have raised $942 million and are valued at $3.56 billion.
To have a scale impact, India needs to go from 100 startups per million population to 1,000,” said SINE CEO Shaji Varghese. “By leading the way, SINE hopes to emerge as an innovation and entrepreneurship powerhouse.”
SINE is celebrating its 20th anniversary. On November 28 and 29, it will host an event called ‘Innovation Nation’.
The event will bring together leaders to discuss India’s potential for entrepreneurship. SINE works with government ministries and IT, auto, and banking companies. It provides resources like labs, funding, and facilities at IIT Bombay.
Some of its current startups are doing exciting work in genomics, energy, and space tech. IIT Bombay has invested Rs 500 crore to build world-class research facilities. These will support work in new areas like space, quantum computing, and electric mobility.
“This will create a strong pipeline for SINE in the form of research ideas that have the potential to become bankable ventures,” said Professor Milind Atrey from IIT Bombay.
