SINE Newsletter

Sep 2014

Issue 3

Society for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (SINE)

3rd floor, CSRE Bldg., IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400 076. www.sineiitb.org

Aug 2014 | Issue 3

Ringside view .................................................................................. 2

SINE gets a new CEO! .................................................................... 3
SINE companies updates ............................................................. 4
Innovation ecosystem in IITB ......................................................... 6
Launch of IASCEND ...................................................................... 10
Conversations with IITB entrepreneurs ....................................... 11
Government schemes for SMEs .................................................. 15

RING-SIDE VIEW

Next ten years of SINE

We are very happy to come out with the 3rd
issue of Signeture. Ten years ago, SINE came
into existence at IIT Bombay. With its rapid
growth and trend-setting achievements
during this period, SINE is now a well-known
name amongst entrepreneurs, investors, and
IIT Bombay community. It is opportune that
we not only take pride in the journey so far,
but also look to the future to see how we can
expand our activities.
We always believed that a premier
institute like IIT Bombay has to be on the
forefront in the fields of Entrepreneurship
and Innovation. It is unarguably SINEs
endeavour to convert the
research and developmental
work carried out by IIT Bombay
community into an
entrepreneurial activity and to
transform the knowledge into wealth
in a sustainable way.
The ecosystem in the campus is abuzz with
various new and continued activities aimed
at innovation. New additions to the campus
include the Tata Centre for Technology &
Design, Biomedical Engineering Technology
Centre, and Desai Sethi Centre for

Aug 2014 | Issue 3

Entrepreneurship. The interests of students in

addressing unmet needs of the country and
in exploring entrepreneurship are higher than
ever before. Government programmes and
private venture capital to stupport start-ups
continue to increase. All signs point that the
next 10 years will be exciting times for SINE.
SINE is also evolving to keep up with the
changes. We have launched various
outreach activities especially to alumni,
begun facilitating more Govt. grants, and
will expand our capacity over the next
year. Most notably, we also have a
new CEO with entrepreneurial and
investor background, Ajeet Khurana,
to lead the way forward.
We are very happy to bring this Signature
issue to all of you and we do hope that it
triggers new thought processes amongst you,
which in turn would lead to positive
development and change.
MilindAtrey
Editor, Signeture
Prof-in-Charge, SINE
Professor, Dept. of Mechanical Engg.
IIT Bombay.

SINE UPDATES

SINE gets a new CEO!

SINE has appointed Mr. Ajeet Khurana, as its
CEO. Ajeet Khurana comes with extensive
start-up experience to his credit from starting
two companies as a solopreneur, to helping
a large number of startups with their go-tomarket strategies and fund-raising, to angel
investing across sectors.
Prior to SINE, he was part of Mumbai Angel
Network. Prior to that, he was ounder of
Corpus Collosum Learning Pvt. Ltd. And KITS
Pvt. Ltd. Ajeet writes extensively about various
business topics and has published books in
the education sector. Ajeet has a BE,
Computer Engineering from University of
Mumbai & MBA from University of Texas at
Austin.
Commenting on Mr. Khuranas appointment,
Prof. Milind Atrey, Professor-in-Charge, SINE,
said, Ajeet will lead the way in our planned
capacity expansion to supporting 50 start-ups
at a time. His strengths, attitude, financial
acumen, professional networks, and mindset
should be an asset for SINE & its incubatees.

Aug 2014 | Issue 3

SINE COMPANY UPDATES

Incubatees at SINE
New Entrants

Healthera Engineering designs and

manufactures innovative products in the
healthcare space. By providing good quality
and low cost sanitary napkin manufacturing
units to women entrepreneurs and self-help
groups in rural and semi-urban areas, tyingup with NGOs, governments, coupled with
health education and advocacy, Healthera
aims to provide affordable, good quality,
eco-friendly hygiene products to the bottom
of the pyramid.
www.health-era.in

SweepEnviro is an environment solution

organisation founded by 4 IITB graduates to
serve public and private organizations on a
wide range of strategic and site specific
environmental and sustainability issues.
SweepEnviro specializes in providing strategic
advice to clients in energy, air, water and
waste management sectors.
www.sweepenviro.com

Existing Companies
Company

Website

Atomberg

www.atomberg.com

Flip Games
IgrenEnergi

www.igrenenergi.com

InOpen

www.inopen.in

Kwatt Solutions

www.kwattsolutions.com

Lucideus

www.lucideus.com

NanoSniff

www.nanosniff.com

PurpleSquirrel Eduventure

www.purplesq.com

Sensibol Audio Technologies

www.sensibol.com

Setu Net

www.mysetu.com

Urjas Energy Solutions

www.urjas.com

Wegilant

www.wegilant.com

Aug 2014 | Issue 3

SINE COMPANY UPDATES

Company News
Covacsis Technology, founded in 2009 by Tarun Mishra & Abhijeet
Mhatre, is a SINE graduate company. The companys flagship
product, Covacsis IPF transforms the role of production and
operation teams from reactive floor management to proactive
and predictive management by making the right decisions in real time. Through IPF, the
manufacturer has a 360 degree view of its manufacturing floor, and has access to the minutest
details of process flow, thus redefining floor economics. It connects disparate machines,
controllers and devices to help translate data gathered from these devices on the
manufacturing floor into relevant business KPIs. Since inception, the organization has been
growing leaps and bounds and has clients such as Godrej, Wellspun, Trident, Cipla, IPCA,
GoodYear Tires and many others.
Covacsis Technology has raised sizeable series A investment from Cisco and GenNext
Ventures, the venture capital arm of Reliance Industries. For both these investors, it has been
strategic investment. The existing seed investor Blume Venture also participated in this round.
The strategic investment in Covacsis comes as the startup organization is moving to become a
machine-to-machine (M2M) player, which refers to companies building tools that allow both
wireless and wired systems to communicate with other devices of the same type, in the
broader Internet of Things (IoT) theme.
Website: www.covacsis.com
kWatt Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (KSPL), founded by Dr. Chetan Solanki,
Professor, IITB. Dr. Chetan has to his credit over 11 patents, over
40 international publications, and 4 books. He has rich
experience of working with prestigious solar and energy projects,
including Government of Maharashtra and IITB. KSPL is a technology driven company focusing
on energy optimization and technology customization to provide economic, renewable
energy solutions. KSPL has started operating in 3 verticals:
S-Lab: Practical training to students/corporates for getting skilled in field of solar energy
(200+ experiments developed).
Off-Grid Systems: kWatt is developing "Eco-system of Solar Entrepreneurs" to complement its
patented technologies, which will drive uptake of solar energy in rural to urban areas.
Grid-Connected Systems: Setting up MW scale power plants, such as a 50 MW Solar Park in
M.P. under Open Access Policies through innovative financial & technological engineering.
Website: www.kwattsolutions.com
Wegilant, founded by IITB alum Toshendra Sharma, operates in
the space of software security. Their app Appvigil is a cloud
based Android App security scanner that scans security
loopholes in Android apps within minutes. Appvigil provides easy
risk assessments without need for sharing source code, with immediate report delivery, thereby
improving developers productivity. Appvigil can detect Mobile OWASP Top 10. No training is
required for users. Website: http://appvigil.co/ ; www.wegilant.com

Aug 2014 | Issue 3

ARTICLE

Innovation & Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in IITB

Pradeep Pillai, Business Development Manager, SINE
IIT Bombay provides a gamut of opportunities
for students and faculty to engage in
innovation and entrepreneurship. Ideas are
generated not just from academic research,
but also in events like hackathons and
workshops, and via various student-centered
initiatives. Prototyping facilities are available
on campus. New centres have come up for
sector-specific efforts in areas such as
healthcare. Academic courses on
entrepreneurship have also been started
recently. Technology commercialization is
facilitated via a technology transfer office &
business incubator. Various components of
the ecosystem are described below.
ACADEMIC DIVISIONS & CENTRES
IITB has 15 departments, 10 centers of
research, 4 interdisciplinary programs and a
school of management. More information is
at http://www.iitb.ac.in/en/education/
academic-divisions
In addition, there are various new initiatives
as follows:
Tata Center for Technology & Design
The focus of the centre would be to develop
technology-driven solutions appropriate for
the bottom sections of the consumer and
business base, with a special focus on India,
and development of human resources
trained in identification of unmet
technological needs, their solutions, and their
placement in the market. The areas identified
for research would broadly include water,
healthcare, affordable housing, energy and
environment, food and agriculture, humanpowered mobility devices, education and
crafts development. The Centre will also give
students exposure to design, innovation and
entrepreneurship by way of course work,
laboratory work and projects.
http://www.tatacentre.iitb.ac.in/tatacentre/

Aug 2014 | Issue 3

Biomedical Engineering Technology

(Incubation) Centre
BETiC brings together four stakeholders:
hospitals, engineering institutes,
manufacturing industry, and Government
bodies, to facilitate medical device
innovation. The Centre will comprise an
integrated facility for design, analysis,
prototyping, and testing. It will facilitate
clinical trials, IPR and technology transfer in
collaboration with medical and industrial
partners, and in the process, develop
valuable human resources in this domain.
Healthcare consortium
The three broad themes that have been
envisaged in the Healthcare Research
Initiative are fundamental therapeutics,
applied therapeutics and diagnostics. Under
this Initiative, IIT Bombay offers capabilities in
research and development in drug discovery
and delivery, diagnostics, process and
product development and outreach.
Desai Sethi Centre for Entrepreneurship
IITB has recently received support from one of
its Distinguished Alumnus, Bharat Desai
(through D S Foundation), for setting up the
proposed Centre. The goals of the proposed
Centre are:
Design, develop and implement innovative
education and research programs for
shaping leaders who will create, redefine
and build cutting-edge products, services,
markets and organizations;
Establish research laboratories in various
disciplines to help students develop
innovative ideas;
Attract sponsors from the global industry as
visiting faculty and mentors;
Provide content, context and contacts to
current students and alumni that enable
prospective entrepreneurs to design and
launch successful new ventures based on
innovative technologies;
Be a resource for the students launching

their own ventures through mentorship,

micro-grants and networking opportunities;
and
Help IIT students and alumni access an
array of educational programs, networking
opportunities, technologies and resources.
The Centre has now finalized the plans
related to:
New Courses, such as Entrepreneurial
Finance; New Product Development;
Entrepreneurial Marketing; Regulatory and
Policy Issues Affecting the Markets.
New Programmes:

B. Tech. Minor in Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship for Research Scholars

Entrepreneurship in Key Technologies

[Biotech, Nanotech, Green Economy,
etc.]

Prototyping & Proof-of-concept Centre:

Rapid prototyping, performance validating

and application testing facilities will be
provided so that quick assessment of both
the promise and problems associated with
the new idea can be carried out and
appropriate steps are taken for future
developments or for closing the project
and minimising the investment in human
and financial capital.
The Centre has launched its first course
Introduction to Entrepreneurship in the
current academic year. This is a semesterlong course available to all the students of
the Institute. Over 250 students from B. Tech.,
M. Tech. and Ph. D. programmes have
joined the course.
STUDENT CLUBS & EVENTS
The Entrepreneurship Cell i(eCell) s a nonprofit organization run by the students of IIT
Bombay that aims at manifesting the latent
entrepreneurial spirit of the young students.
Its various initiatives include:
E-Summit: The annual flagship event, a
networking hub for corporates,
professionals and budding entrepreneurs
from all across the nation.
Eureka!: Asia's largest B-Plan competition as
recognized by Thomson Reuters.
Aug 2014 | Issue 3

EnB-Club: Organizes workshops, interactive

sessions, various platforms ranging from

idea validation to startup services, and
informal sessions through-out the year.
More details are at www.ecell.in
Student Technical Activities Board runs
various activities bringing together diverse
teams for problem-solving , technical
hobbies, and knowledge-sharing, and
manages student clubs in electronics,
robotics, ICT, math, physics, aeronautics,
aeromodeling, media, & healthcare. In
addition, it operates a Tinkerers Lab,
funded by alumni batch of 1975.
More details are at www.stab-iitb.org
Abhyuday, the social fest of IIT Bombay, is
organized with a vision to empower
students, taking the mission of social
leadership and impact across the nation to
drive social change. As part of its activities, it
has launched an Action Plan competition
for Activism/Not for Profit/Social
Entrepreneurship led models.
The Shailesh J. Mehta School of
Management also has a student club,
E-club that organizes various
entrepreneurship related events as well as
organizes practicum courses for students to
work with start-ups. E-club hosts an annual
international business festival , Avenues,
attended by students from over 100
colleges.
COMMERCIALIZING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Industrial Research & Consultancy Centre
(IRCC)
IRCC co-ordinates and facilitates all
research and development activities at IITB.
Dean R&D and IRCC play a vital role in IITBs
intellectual output by providing end-to-end
support, from conceptualization to
commercialization, of research ideas,
specifically by:
Ensuring that environment is created /

nurtured / maintained so that faculty and

scientists at IITB are able to conduct
research of the highest caliber. The
research environment includes
7

laboratories civil infrastructure, equipment,

support staff -- both technical and
administrative -- and research staff .
Providing support for researchers to liaise

with (potential) funding sources so as to be

able to finance their research and
development activities.
Spotting and nurturing opportunities for

collaboration between researchers (within

IITB) and their counterparts in other
institutions.
Ensuring that IITB researchers are positioned

to contribute to the state of the art in

cutting edge and emerging areas of
research in Science and Engineering.
Identifying and putting in place ways and

means by which work done by researchers

at IITB can be exploited whenever
appropriate and possible to address
problems faced by society and industry.
Towards this, licensing, commercialization
and agile processes for industry-academia
partnerships are a must.
Providing admin support for conducting

research management of human

resources, financial management, and
procurement.
Some statistics:
R&D funding per year grew from 66 cr in
2008-09 to 278 cr in 2012-13.
250 Indian & 59 US patent applications

have been made during years 2010-14.

Industry interactions for research

happened with 337 Indian companies and

40 international organizations during 201213.

BUSINESS INCUBATOR
Society for Innovation & Entrepreneurship
(SINE)
SINE manages the technology business
incubator at Indian Institute of Technology
(IIT Bombay). Set up in 2004, SINE was
formalisation of an IT incubator pilot started
in 2000 with the support of its alumni. The
incubator is a platform to support
technology start ups founded by IIT Bombay
community or are based on IIT Bombay
technologies. Thus, SINE extends role of IIT
Bombay by facilitating conversion of R&D
into entrepreneurial ventures.
SINE has an infrastructure spread over 10,000
sq.ft., and can incubate 15-17 companies at
a time. SINE is supported by several
government departments such as
Department of Science and Technology,
Department of Information Technology, &
Technology Development Board.
Its main activities include:
Provide incubation, pre-incubation, and
virtual incubation to early stage
entrepreneurial technology based
ventures.
Create and provide physical infrastructure
and support systems necessary for business
incubation activities.
Facilitate networking with professional
resources including mentors, experts,
consultants and advisors.
Identify technologies/innovations which
have potential for commercial ventures.
Promote and foster the spirit of
entrepreneurship, and generally to carry
out activities that facilitate knowledge
creation, innovation and entrepreneurship
activities.
More details at www.sineiitb.org

8 start-ups have been formed over past 5

years with technology developed at IITB.

Website: http://www.ircc.iitb.ac.in/

Aug 2014 | Issue 3

ALUMNI SUPPORT
IITB alumni have always supported
entrepreneurship & innovation activities in
IITB, including support for setting up of the
incubator. New initiatives by IITB alumni
include:
IITB Alumni & SINE Committee for
Entrepreneurship Development (IASCEND)
I-ASCEND is a joint initiative of IITBAA and
SINE, to strengthen the entrepreneurship
efforts by SINE, ECELL and IITB, by building
strong alumni linkages using the IITBAA/HF
network and bringing support from alumni to
the IITB entrepreneur communities. IASCEND
will work to increase the number as well as
success of entrepreneurial initiatives at IITB
through:
Multiplying collaboration opportunities
among students, faculty, and alumni
venture efforts
Providing strong communication channels
among the stakeholders as well as to
external business and media
communications
Helping SINE to support incubation of
ventures at multiple locations with support
from IITBAA chapters
Utilizing IITBAA/HF global network to support
ventures with multi-location /multi-country
support needs.
IITB Innovate
IITB alumni of year 2002 have initiated a
legacy project in the form of a fund that
aims to stimulate innovation at IITB and
improve its standing among the top
technology institutes in the world. The fund,
called IITB Innovate is to support best
innovation in research, technology and
product development that creates a lasting
impact on the quality of life of the people of
India. The project is being implemented in
partnership SINE, which will co-ordinate also
with IITBAA, & Dean ACR office.
The main objectives of the IITB Innovate
programme are:
To recognize and reward the most
innovative research, technology or
product created by the students of IITB that
have a lasting impact on the life of the

Aug 2014 | Issue 3

people of India.
To foster an environment of creativity and

innovation among the students of IITB, and,

by extension, raise IITBs standing among
the top technology institutes in the world.
To provide early capital to assist in the
successful transition of the best innovative
ideas from an early stage to prototyping.
Each award will consist of a cash prize
depending on the project. The funds are to
be used for reduction of an idea to practice
as a prototype or demonstration of a proofof-concept that will pave the way for further
success.
FUNDING
Proof-of-concept
The Tata Centre is currently providing
funding to IITB faculty members for projects
in various domains. The Centre provides 10
lakhs as well as access to rapid prototyping
facilities.
Healthcare Research consortium provides
funding of up to 5 lakhs for one year is
provided to IITB faculty to work with a (nonIITB) Consortium collaborator.
IRCC provides financial support of up to 1
lakh, as well as facilitates mentoring of
students.
IITB Innovate programme initially aims to
provide up to 2 lakhs INR for idea to
prototype conversion.
Seed funding
SINE provides seed-stage capital of up to
~20 lakhs to the companies it incubates, in
addition to various subsidies.

EVENT REPORT

Launch of IASCEND
Report by Dr. Aparna Rao,
Senior Project Manager, Desai Sethi Centre for Entrepreneurship, IITB
Right from its inception, SINE has received
constant support from IITB alumni in the form
of mentoring, business and industry
connections, and funding to start-ups SINE
incubates. To strengthen these alumni
linkages and further bolster entrepreneurial
ecosystem built up by SINE, eCell, and IITB,
SINE & IITB Alumni Association (IITBAA)
launched the IITB Alumni and SINE
Committee for Entrepreneurship
Development (I-ASCEND) earlier this year.
The initiative was launched on 19 April, 2014
at the 10 years celebration event of SINE.
I-ASCEND will work to increase the number as
well as success of entrepreneurial initiatives
by IITB students, faculty and alumni through
multiplying collaboration opportunities and
providing strong communication channels
among the stakeholders as well as external
business and media communities. It will also
help SINE incubate ventures at multiple
locations with support from IITBAA chapters
etc.
The launch event had key note sessions by
Deepak Satwalekar, ex-CEO and MD of
HDFC Life Insurance and Anupam Mittal ,
CEO of Shaadi.com. It also had a panel
discussion on lessons for of first generation
entrepreneurs, in which founders of Ola
Cabs, Vegayan Systems, Ideaforge, &
Embibe candidly shared their
entrepreneurial experiences. Prof. Shashikant
Suryanarayanan, co-founder of Sedemac
Mechatronics Pvt. Ltd., a SINE incubated
company then shared his experiences in
commercialization of intellectual property &
hardware products in particular. There was
also a session of industry-academia
interaction where some industry
representatives shared perspectives on their
priorities and areas of their interests, while a
few faculty members demonstrated their
technologies available for industry
applications.
Aug 2014 | Issue 3

The highlights of the event were on-site

mentoring and idea validation sessions. For
all appearances, it looked like a melee. It
was a room full of ideas, innovation and
inputs, young entrepreneurs pitching to over
50 prospective investors and mentors.
Student teams lined up with presentations
with start-up ideas on a wide range of
products & services such as mobile apps,
coding, music, 3-d painting, education,
e-commerce for art, drug delivery,
automated motor bike wash, e-tailing of
construction products, etc.
This event, in addition to product demos,
gave the mentors and prospective investors
the touch-feel experience for some of the
techie products and services.
Thanks to efforts by IITBAA, alumni turned up
with a fantastic show of support to
entrepreneurs. The audience also comprised
of specially invited industry veterans,
entrepreneurs, mentors, and senior investors
from Quimpro, TiE, Renu Electronics,
Chemtrols, Mastek, Nexus Venture Partners,
Idea, Mumbai Angels Network, Pfizer, Hiraco
Ventures, Indian Angels Network,
GlobalLogic, ALOE Private Equity, ASCENT,
Godrej SkyQuest Technology Consulting,
GTM 360, Orios Venture Partners, Aditya Birla
PE, Euphoria Ventures, Activitas, Amazon,
Ryerson Futures, Airtight Networks, &
Hindalco to name a few.
Taste of Success @ I-ASCEND : Three SINE
companies are among those who benefited
from the event. Wegilant, a software security
company, Atomberg, with data acquisition
& transmission products & services, and Urjas,
a cleantech company that makes gasifiers ,
have got mentors and/or investors from the
event.
Team SINE commits itself sustained efforts in
further fortifying the entrepreneurial
ecosystem at IITB!!!
10

INTERVIEWS

Conversations with IITB Faculty Entrepreneurs

Report by Dr. Aparna Rao,
Senior Project Manager, Desai Sethi Centre for Entrepreneurship, IITB
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.
~Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
The journey of entrepreneurs is like a survival
course in experience that life provides .. the
tests first, the lessons later. These lessons are
rich in learning, wisdom and of course,
rewards psychological, personal and
material. We interviewed two successful
techno - entrepreneurs born out of the
research at the laboratories of IITB:
Shashikant Suryanarayanan (SS),
Asso. Prof. Mechanical Dept.,
Founder, SEDEMAC
&
Prof. GirishSaraph (GS) ,
Former Prof., Electrical Engineering,
Founder, Vegayan Systems
In two separate interviews, they discuss their
stories, challenges and victories in a matterof-fact manner, making their journeys sound
easier than they really would have been.
While the destinations and routes differ, there
are features some common, some
uncommon, specific to their respective
ventures. This piece attempts to put things in
perspective for budding entrepreneurs.
Company Descriptions:
SEDEMAC is an engine and powertrain
controls company. The entrepreneurial ethos
of SEDEMAC - 'servicing India's large and
under-served market for small engines.' There
are players like Bosch, Delphi and others for
large engines. However, the small engine
requirements for fuel and energy efficiency
are to be met with. With the energy and
enthusiasm, the hallmark of this
entrepreneur, Prof Shashikant describes his
journey.
SEDEMAC was created by a professor
student team and today they have
Aug 2014 | Issue 3

60 employees and 30 more on contract. The

company provides control products and
tech solutions - Econoseek, Electronic
Governing, Smart Exhaust Gas Recirculation
(EGR) - are focused on energy and fuel
efficiency and lower emissions. The
opportunity was discovered and explored as
they evolved.
Vegayan Systems has launched SiMPLuS
product-suite, consisting of two software
product categories for network operations
and network planning, which enables
telecom service providers to efficiently and
effectively manage their Next-gen (IP/MPLS/
Ethernet) networks. SiMPLuS simplifies
deployment, operation, management,
engineering and planning of large
converged, next-gen networks. Its scalability
and sophistication brings effective control,
optimization and improved performance to
the network.
Steadfastness, persistence and resilience
shine through in the entire discussion where
he begins with the attitude of an
entrepreneur Stay with it, challenges are
part of the game An entrepreneurial
venture can never be executed in a preplanned manner.
As an entrepreneur, Prof Saraph walks the
talk. When it came to the choice between
his comfortable position as IIT faculty
member and his venture, he chose to give
wings to his dreamToday, as Vegayan
soars, he is matter-of-fact about the travails
of his journey.
Q. How would you describe the genesis of
your venture?
SS: We had a technology piece which would
enhance engine efficiency. We had
designed a prototype. The first glimmer of
hope was when our prototypes for steering
controls caught the attention of companies
like TVS at an exhibition. The journey of
discovery took on from there.
11

Our entrepreneurial premise is that the

market for control products for small engines
is an underserved segment. India is the
largest market for two wheelers. The needs of
Indian two wheelers and Gensets are
different compared to those in the West. For
e.g., in India, two-wheelers are a mode of
transport, whereas, they are more of a sport
in the West. The engine size of two-wheelers
in the West is much larger compared to
Indian bikes. India is the largest market for
two wheelers and Gensets. SEDEMAC meets
these specific requirements of tractor and
motor bike manufacturers
like Hero, TVS, Bajaj,
Mahindra & Mahindra,
Kirloskar's to name some.

The

designing a prototype and then developing

actual components to fit into vehicles and
gensets is a long haul. The actual
components are designed with inputs from
the customers. There is a lot of back and
forth in this process.

Challenges for the first time entrepreneur are

different because he is not schooled in basic
business concepts as are those from business
families. Market wisdom, facts about
profitability, cash flow etc. are not known.
For e.g. a highly profitable company that is
growing rapidly may be cash
flow negative. A first time
entrepreneur tends to get
alarmed by this, but those
business plan is from business backgrounds
take it in their stride.

GS: The venture is an

always evolving and
offshoot of our research in
communication networks.
the final structure and Another challenge is selling.
There was some level of
In B2B selling, the
shape
of
the
venture
technology already in place.
entrepreneur has to be able
The productization
rarely resembles the to design a product around
converting technology into
the technology and sell the
original
plan.
a usable and versatile
concept in a way that the
product was far more
customer sees commercial
complex and evolved
viability and value.
compared to the specific
technology piece. Many
GS: There are complex and
academicians may not appreciate the
dynamic variables that need to be
complexities involved in this process. It is
maneuvered, which cannot be planned
difficult for them to comprehend that one
beforehand. Challenges like uncertainties
technology may only be a small part of a
related to technology, financial
complete solution which a customer
requirements and constraints, team
requires.
dynamics, market forces, competitive
landscape many of these are not in
In case of Vegayan, the technology piece
control, as far as the entrepreneur is
was on network optimization. This was
concerned. The business plan is always
insufficient in itself from an end-user
evolving and the final structure and shape of
perspective and initial piece constituted only
the venture rarely resembles the original
a small part of the final offering. They had to
plan. An ambitious plan faces challenges at
build on a complete solution. This meant
every stage.
entering big turf, competing with existing
players of the likes of IBM, HP.
The challenge of technology itself poses a
high entry barrier; the same barrier stands for
Q. What challenges did you face? How did
others and thus, in a way, the entry barrier
you overcome these?
itself becomes a shield. The entrepreneur
SS: There is nothing laid out for the
works in the security of this knowledge and
entrepreneur. One learns along the way. At
optimizes upon his research and product
SEDEMAC, we realized that the engineering
design.
process of giving concrete shape to an idea,

Aug 2014 | Issue 3

12

Q. Whats your take on IP challenges? What

The trajectory involves theoretical concept
was your patenting strategy?
experimentation business idea
productization selling delivery. Testing in a
SS: Patents is a game played by big
laboratory environment at IIT was not possible. companies against big companies. For small
Because of the network scale and
companies, 'IP is comparable to a kitchen.' It
sophistication required, there is no such facility is necessary but, it is not everything. One
available in an academic setting, neither is it
needs to continually innovate to make food
feasible to set up such a facility. We had to
interesting for the household. Similarly, it is
convince customers to allow testing initially in
necessary for small companies to have the
their test labs and then on their core networks, ability to continually create new IP. One
which essentially meant the heart of their
patent may not suffice. Thus, a technology
massive business revenues. Customers need to company needs to constantly innovate and
be convinced first on capabilities and then
create new IP.
look for totally reliable
solutions. It was a risky
Much remains to be done in
proposition to demonstrate
improving India's IP regime. It
our solutions using
is tough to create something
customers networks and the
that has substantial
first yes was an uphill task.
commercial value. As of
A
healthy
intellectual
At the early stage, I used
now, India appears to be a
property ecosystem generation away from
personal funds and support
from angel investors.
needs to be created in companies based on IPs. In
fact, a healthy IP eco system
India.
Q. How important is team
needs to be generated. It
composition and stability for
does not even exist.
a new venture?
SS: The leadership team has
GS: The patent for our
to be stable. Secondly, the
technology had been filed
team members should be
much earlier, at the stage of
complementary to each
research. The US patent was
other in their strengths. In India, there are very
granted after the formation of Vegayan and
few creative engineers. A team needs
multiple others are on the way. India has a
members who are creative, understand the
long way to go in technology product
vision of the company, the scope of the
innovation and IP. Unlike U.S., Europe or Israel,
product and the business nuances.
India is not known for its technology products
but, only known for its technical services in ICT
The team has to stick together in the lengthy
industry. Vegayan is one of the few tech
process of building the product, right from
product companies of India.
concept to design to prototype, incorporate
modification according to requirements, and
Government rules and regulations are not a
at the end run the risk of this being obsolete or hindrance. We deal with regulatory
being substituted by some other technology.
authorities, and have had no issues while
complying with rules. However, the ecosystem
GS: Entrepreneurship is all about creating. The is not like that of U.S., where it is smooth and
core team has to be convinced on the larger
efficient or China, where facilities and support
picture and have the conviction to stay on
are offered by the government.
course. Stability, coherence and transparency
Q. What would you say about Indias
are necessary for a good team in any
ecosystem for technopreneurship?
venture. Investors too, look at the team
strengths and credibility.
SS: The ecosystem in India has a long way to
go. IITs have the potential to create this
ecosystem. At present, the emphasis is more
on publications. Somehow, there is a
Aug 2014 | Issue 3

13

disconnect with the market. IIT should have a

basket of offerings with the freedom to work.
'If technology based entrepreneurship is to be
encouraged, the ecosystem needs to focus
on a purposeful engagement with the outside
world. This will create an understanding of
market needs.' The ecosystem needs to
create a buzz, build the right mentality,
courage and attitude to support innovation
even in failure.
This can happen when there is a vibrancy of
ideas, projects running, thought processes,
prototypes being developed - the entire
gamut of activities should focus on market
engagement which would be the nucleus to
bring out a viable company. The energy and
intent for this kind of fire is very much possible
at IIT.
GS: We have very few technology companies
in India. Most of our companies provide
services. There is not much happening in terms
of innovation or technology creation. This
needs to change. We have a long way to go.
Vegayan has established itself as a wellrecognized player in the Indian telecom/ISP
operators and it is now looking at growth
opportunities in other segments as well. Team
Vegayan is presently exploring two areas for
spreading its wings:
Diverse enterprise networks like banking, IT,
manufacturing conglomerates, BFSI customers
International turf - they are also exploring the
international arena; have started free trials,
testing, validations to demonstrate reliability
and performance.

Aug 2014 | Issue 3

To Conclude: Both interviews threw up some

interesting insights. Prof. Shashikant (SS)
emphasizes on the challenges faced in
creating IP, converting technology research
into a viable commercial product, and the
need for an appropriate ecosystem.
Prof. Girish (GS) leaves one impressed with the
thought that tenacity to stick on despite
challenges, and taking the road less
travelled when faced with the choice of a
comfortable job versus the pursuit of an
entrepreneurial dream
While they go along their chosen paths, some
key pointers for entrepreneurs One learns as he moves. In this journey,
'experience comes first, the thesis later'
First time entrepreneurs face the hindrance
of no knowledge or market wisdom, and
progress could appear rather slow and
painful,
An entrepreneur has to look at wins and
losses in a matter-of-fact manner.
The process of building a product, from
concept to design to prototype,
incorporating modifications according to
market requirements is lengthy and faces
the risk of being obsolete or substituted by
some other technology.
Team stability in a technology driven
venture is crucial for credibility and trust
building
It is essential to identify the right people,
who have the broad vision and
understanding of the concept, as the
team takes the venture to its real heights.
In all, an entrepreneur has to keep the
faith, and stay on the path even when he
hits a dirt track or two.

14

ARTICLE

Government/ NGO Funding for SMEs

Sanket Vardhave, Pradeep Pillai
In addition to private sources of funding such as angel investments and venture capital,
start-ups could also use various sources of funding from government and NGOs. Awareness
about such sources is limited, so we have compiled a list of various funding sources in India.
This is not an exhaustive list. Please refer to schemes websites for latest information.
Organiization

Department

Scheme

Descriptiion

Amount

Bill and Melinda

Gates Foundation,
IKP Knowledge Park

IKP Grand Challenges To identify, fund and Phase 1: USD

nurture ideas that ad- 100,000 ; Phase II
Exploration
dress global health
USD 1 million
challenges

Council of Scientific
& Industrial Research
(CSIR)

New Millennium Indian Technology

Leadership Initiative
(NMITLI)

Funds for scientific

projects where markets and technology
risks are high.

Soft loans of up to a
few crores

To establish proof-ofconcept, as a step towards commercialization. Drugs, devices,

diagnostics, agricultural & industrial biotechnology, etc.

Up to Rs 50 lakhs

Proof-of-concept: up
to 50 lakhs. Validation: up to 100 lakhs
(mix of grant in aid &
loan)

Department of Biotechnology (DBT)

BIRAC
Biotechnology Igni(Biotechnology In- tion Grant Scheme
dustry Research
(BIG)
Assistance Council)

DBT

BIRAC

Social Innovation
programme for Products: Affordable &
Relevant to Societal
Health (SPARSH)

Identify and provide

support to cutting
edge innovations towards affordable
product development
that can bring significant social impact and
address challenges of
inclusive growth.

DBT

BIRAC

Small Business Innovation Business Research Initiative

(SBIRI)

Early stage funding for Up to INR 1 crore

high risk, innovative
(mix of grant in aid &
ideas/products.
loan)

DBT

BIRAC

Biotechnology Indus- Scheme caters to high A few crores. Mix of

try Partnership Pro- risk, transformational grant, cost sharing
technology / process and loans.
gramme (BIPP)
development.

Department of Electronics & Information Technology

(DEIT)

Aug 2014 | Issue 3

R&D Projects Funding

Grant to encourage
R&D projects in fields
of ICT

Up to 50% of project
cost

15

Organiization

Department

Scheme

Descriptiion

Amount

Department of Electronics & Information

Technology (DEIT)

R&D Projects Funding

Grant to encourage up to 50% of project

R&D projects in fields cost
of ICT

DEIT

Multiplier Grants
Scheme

Grant to create indigenous products/

packages

2-4 crores, depending on partners

Department of Science and Technology

(DST)

Technology develop- Water Technology

Initiative (WTI) Proment
gramme

DST

Technology Develop- Technology Develop- for working in indige- Loan @ 5-6% / Eqment Board (TDB)
ment Board
nous technologies
uity Partnership

DST

Technology Transfer
Division

Instrumentation Development Programme

To develop various
Mix of grants, loans,
analytical/monitoring or equity partnerelectronic instruship.
ments and sensors

DST

Technology Information, Forecasting and

Assessment Council
(TIFAC)

TIFAC-SIDBI Revolving Fund for Technology Innovation Programme (SRIJAN)

To facilitate development and commercialization of innovative technology projects

Department of Scien- Access to Knowledge

tific and Industrial Re- for Technology Development and Dissearch (DSIR)
semination (A2K+)

Technology Development and Utilization

Programme for
Women (TDUPW)

Promoting the adoption of new technologies by women entrepreneurs

DSIR

Patent Acquisition
and Collaborative
Research and Technology Development
(PACE)

Patent Acquisition
and Collaborative
Research and Technology Development
(PACE)

Support to acquire
patented technology
at an early stage
from within the
country or overseas

DSIR

Promoting Innovations in Individuals,

Start-ups and MSMEs
(PRISM)

Promoting Innovations in Individuals,

Start-ups and MSMEs
(PRISM)

to support individual
innovators which will
enable to achieve the
agenda of inclusive
development

DSIR

Research & Develop- Granting Recognition scheme for granting

ment Industry (RDI) & Registration to In- recognition & registration to in-house
house R&D units
R&D units.

DSIR

Scientific & Industrial Scientific & Industrial Recognition of SIROs

Research Organisa- Research Organisations (SIROs)
tions (SIROs)

Aug 2014 | Issue 3

To develop low cost Up to 1 crore/ costdomestic purification sharing

technologies/ waste
management

Soft loan up to one

crore, subject to
80% of total project
cost .

Phase I- 2 to 20
lakhs
Phase II- 20 to 50
lakhs

16

Organiization

Department

Ministry of Communi- Department of Eleccation and Informatronics and Information technology (MIT) tion Technology

Scheme

Descriptiion

Amount

Support International
Patent Protection in
Electronics and IT
(SIP-EIT)

Reimbursement of
patent filing cost in
Electronics / ICT areas with patents already filed in India.

50% or up to Rs 15
lakh for filling International patent

Rs 25,000 for domestic patents and

Rs 2 lakh for foreign
patents

Ministry of Micro
Small Medium Enterprises (MoMSME)

National ManufacAssistance for Grant

turing Competitive- on Patent/ GI Regisness Council (NMCC) tration

Grant after the patent has been obtained by the organisation

MoMSME

Office of the Development Commissioner

Support for Entrepreneurial and Management Development

of SMEs through Incubators

Provides grant to
Rs 4 to 8 lakhs, subtechnology start-ups ject to 75% to 85%
for prototyping and of project cost
getting mentoring
etc to build their
companies

MoMSME

Office of the Development Commissioner

Marketing Assistance Grant to take part in

exhibitions for MarScheme
keting

Up to Rs 5
lakhs support for
attending domestic
and International
exhibitions

MoMSME

Office of the Development Commissioner

Credit Guarantee
Fund Scheme for Micro and Small Enterprises

Collateral Free
Credit up to Rs 50
lakh

MoMSME

Office of the Development Commissioner

Credit Linked Capital Loans to upgrade

Loans up to Rs 1
Subsidy Scheme
Plant and Machinery crore, upfront capital subsidy up to
(CLCSS)
15% for technology
upgradation

Loans for working

capital as well as
term loans are provided.

MoMSME

Incentive for ISO

Reimbursement of
Up to Rs. 75,000.
9000 /ISO 14001 /
charges of acquiring
HACCP Certifications ISO-9000/ISO-14001/
HACCP certifications

NABARD

NABARD-SDC Rural
Innovation Fund
(RIF)

To promote innova- Up to 95% of total

tion in farm, rural
project outlay in
non-farm and micro- grants and/or loans
finance sectors

National Innovation
Foundation (NIF)

Micro Venture Innovation Fund (MVIF)

Soft Loans for unup to Rs 10-15

aided, Green, Grass- lakhs
roots technological
innovation or a traditional knowledge
practice

SME Growth Fund

Equity Investment in Rs 2 crore to Rs 25

wide range of growth crore
sectors

Small Industries Development Bank of

India (SIDBI)

Aug 2014 | Issue 3

SIDBI Ventures

17

Organiization

Department

Scheme

Descriptiion

Amount

Small Industries Development Bank of

India (SIDBI)

Direct Finance

Term Loans from ac- Rs 10 lakh and

tivities such as tech- above
nology upgradatation, infrastructure
development, etc.

SIDBI

Risk Capital Fund for Equity & convertible

debt without collatMSMEs
eral.

Rs 25 lakhs to Rs 5
crore. Subordinated
debt up to 33% of
post project tangible net worth of the
enterprise.

References
http://business.gov.in/starting_business/source_finance.php
http://www.venturecenter.co.in/funding/ (2012)

Contacts at SINE
Ajeet Khurana
Prof. Milind Atrey
Ms. Poyni Bhatt
Ms. C. V. Krishnaveni
Dr. Pradeep B. Pillai

Chief Executive Officer

ajeet@sineiitb.org
Professor-in-charge
matrey@ iitb.ac.in
Chief Operating Officer
poyni.bhatt@iitb.ac.in
Project Manager
krishnaveni@sineiitb.org
Business Development Manager pradeep@sineiitb.org

COVER PAGE: Red-whiskered bulbul on IITB campus. Photo credits: Pradeep Pillai.

As per a WWF study, the IITB campus has over 843 species of flora and fauna, including
102 species of birds. Study of the Biodiversity of Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Campus Qudros et al. 2009.
Aug 2014 | Issue 3

18