Ideas incubator

Its success rate has been astounding. 8216;8216;The typical incubation success ratio level is two to three out of 10, and at IIT, Bombay, it is six out of 10. And we expect a higher ratio in future,8217;8217; says Poyni Bhatt, chief administrative officer of SINE. 8216;8216;SINE administers a business incubator which provides support for technology-based entrepreneurship. It extends the role of the IIT by facilitating the conversion of research activity into entrepreneurial ventures.8217;8217;

So, Eisodus Networks Private Limited, a technology company set up by Sunil Mehta and Professor Abhyay Karandikar in 2003-04 with SINE8217;s help, today is a supplier to major broadband companies in the city like MTNL, BSNL, Bharti and Tata. 8216;8216;Infrastructure support provided by SINE went a long way in helping us develop our ideas into substantial products,8217;8217; says Mehta.

For Herald Logic Private Limited, which develops products in enterprise information, too, the journey has been remarkable. It was set up in 2000 when its founders were electrical engineering students from IIT. 8216;8216;We have evolved a lot. We now provide businesses not just the capability to monitor their performances and but also understand the factors affecting it,8217;8217; said Vishal Gupta, the man behind the 45-member firm.

Initially, an information technology IT business incubator was set up in 1999 at the Kanwal Rekhi School of Information and Technology to support entrepreneurship in the IT sector. Encouraged by its success and to facilitate expansion across all disciplines, the IIT then set up SINE as a full-fledged technology business incubator in 2004. One of the first institutes to adopt the concept of business incubation in India, SINE now intends to expand into a 50-company incubator, its plans coinciding with the golden jubilee celebrations of IITB.

8216;8216;The aim is to ensure that research is not confined to papers but is developed and marketed into a mature product that can be utilised by the country,8217;8217; says IIT, Bombay director Ashok Misra.

Approximately 30 ventures have been working as 8216;incubates8217; with SINE. Among the 13 that have graduated, are Myzus Technologies develops products and services in areas of wireless gateways and connectivity bridges, eInfinitus raised Rs 1.2 crore and develops products in network operations and Powai Labs Private Limited. In fact, Powai Labs, which was built at IITB from 1998 to 2002 and was later incubated as a company, is the first indigenous Electronics Design Automation EDA company in the country and one of the pioneers in academia-industry-government collaboration.

Admission to the business incubator programme is for a maximum of three years and is based on an evaluation process where candidates are made to do an 8220;opportunity validation study8221; and evaluate whether the idea has market value. After being selected, SINE facilitates networking with mentors, experts, consultants and advisors for the companies. The focus is on developing technologies, innovations which the have potential for commercial ventures.

TRI The Robotics Institute Technosolutions started working on its own in December 2005 and it was only in October 2006 that it incubated with SINE. The transition, says TRI director and co-founder Gagan Goyal, has been 8216;8216;significantly beneficial8217;8217;. 8216;8216;Besides providing necessary infrastructure, periodic reviews, mentorship and inputs on how to take our product from concept to business level, it has helped us grow continuously,8217;8217; he said.

Among the others who are giving shape to their ideas now are Coll Craft Technology, Consumer Vision Technologies, C-Tech Labs, FEAST Software, Geosyndicate Power, WILCOM Technologies and Agrocom Software Technologies among others.

While WILCOM Technologies has already set up a manufacturing unit, Consumer Vision is working on the next generation technology for retail stores. 8216;8216;We aim to revolutionise retail by providing personalised shopping experiences,8217;8217; said Consumer Vision CEO and product architect Rohit Nalwade.

Besides creating success out of concepts, SINE, says Bhatt, is gradually changing the mindset of students who instead of opting for white-collar jobs are set up ventures based on their own technologies and skills.

So dream on. The next Narayana Murthy could come from here.