ISBA Partnerships – Strengthening India’s Innovation Ecosystem

The National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), established by Government of India in 1982 is an institutional mechanism, with a broad objective of promoting gainful self-employment amongst the Science and Technology (S&T) manpower in the country and to setup knowledge based and innovation driven enterprises. NSTEDB functions under the aegis of Department of Science & Technology (DST). It has representation from socio-economic and scientific Departments / Ministries, premier entrepreneurship development institutions and all India Financial Institutions.

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog is Government of India’s flagship initiative to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country and was setup in 2016. Towards this end AIM has taken a holistic approach to ensure creation of a problem-solving innovative mindset in schools and creating an ecosystem of entrepreneurship in universities, research institutions, private and MSME sector. All the initiatives of AIM are currently monitored and managed systematically using real-time MIS systems and dynamic dashboards. AIM is also currently having its programs reviewed by third party agencies for ensuring continuous improvements.

Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) is a not-for-profit Section 8, Schedule B, Public Sector Enterprise, set up by Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India as an Interface Agency to strengthen and empower the emerging Biotech enterprise to undertake strategic research and innovation, addressing nationally relevant product development needs. BIRAC is an industry-academia interface and implements its mandate through a wide range of impact initiatives, be it providing access to risk capital through targeted funding, technology transfer, IP management and handholding schemes that help bring innovation excellence to the biotech firms and make them globally competitive.

The Maharashtra State Innovation Society (MSInS) is the nodal body of the Government of Maharashtra responsible for the execution of Maharashtra State Innovative Startup Policy 2018 which envisions transforming Maharashtra by catalysing the growth of an innovation-driven entrepreneurial ecosystem to achieve wholesome and inclusive socio-economic development.

Kerala Startup Mission played the pivotal role in development, orchestrating every piece of a vibrant Startup ecosystem. Startups in Kerala are stretching their limits as they focus more on to future technologies and finding solutions for problems in ways not experimented before. We have seen entrepreneurs from Kerala also shining in the limelight of success in international forums. Success stories are written in sectors other than Software and IT also. Kerala technology startup policy 2014 has been implemented and that in turn leads to more proactive measures in the new State IT policy 2017.

The MeitY Startup Hub (MSH) under the aegis of Software Technology Parks of India, an autonomous body under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, which has a mission to build a conducive innovation and startup ecosystem by bringing together various technology innovation stakeholders, breaking away with the culture of working in silos and paving the way towards a strong economy built on the twin engines of innovation and disruption. It also acts as a hub and ensures synergies among all the incubation centres, Centre of Excellence on Emerging Technologies and other existing platforms, supported by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for facilitating criss-crossing of technology resources, sharing best practices and ideas across the entire innovation and startup ecosystem.

ISBA has signed an MoU with KPMG Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd. to establish a network of incubators in the Delhi/NCR region. ISBA will act as an anchor agency and provide support in the augmentation of the online start-up portal, service provisioning, facilitating MoUs, linkages, industry connect, creation of a pool of mentors, providing networking opportunities, collective capacity/expertise development, support in technology transfer, and knowledge exchange (technical, financial, and management) to the incubators and start-ups from the NCR region. To execute the program, a subcontractor agreement has been made between ISBA and KPMG for the program's implementation.

ISBA is a program partner with TANSIM, which stands for the Tamil Nadu Startup and Innovation Mission. The objective of the program is to organize the "Scale-up Incubator 2.0: An Incubation Management Training Program on Investment Management" for CEOs and Incubation Managers of Incubation Centers in Tamil Nadu. TANSIM has extended funding support to ISBA for organizing "ISBACON 2022."

ISBA signed an MOU with the Technology Development Board (TDB). A webinar was organized for startups across the country to understand the Funding Scheme announced by TDB for the commercialization of homegrown products. Additionally, the Technology Development Board has supported ISBA in organizing five i-Connect Series through webinars.

ISBA has signed a collaboration agreement with Stanford India Private Limited for the online Entrepreneurship Training Program "Spark 07 June 2023 Cohort". Through this collaboration, ISBA has partnered with Stanford Seed India Private Limited to offer the Seed Spark Program to member incubator startups. The online entrepreneurship program is designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of entrepreneurship and help startups scale their businesses.

Assam Startup is an initiative by Assam Government to create a start-up ecosystem in the state. The vision of this initiative is to create a culture of entrepreneurship in Assam by promoting and empowering the youth to become job creators and pursue their entrepreneurial dreams. Thereby, transform Assam into a leading Start-up hub in the country.