On campus, the term incubator usually has a specific meaning. It’s kind of a laboratory that is geared to nurture ideas for a tech-driven start-up. These typically work within the fields of education, finance, consumer services and tech. And startup accelerators ideally help students tap ideas in a sector experiencing a lot of demand and investor attention.
Now, incubators are looking outside of tech to usher in change. A new crop of entrepreneurs is looking at start-up ideas in the fields of social impact, music, logistics, mental health and business.
“Tech is the enabler,” says professor Kaustav Majumdar, head of start-ups and incubation at Bhavan’s SP Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR). “Many students come with entrepreneurship ideas in the social sector. Ideas in the social field have traditionally had poor business models. As a B-school, we are now working and helping students develop solid revenue models while trying to solve social issues.”
Taking off
Majumdar cites two of his favourite startup ideas that have taken shape in the college’s incubator. Vinit Jain, 22, is pursuing the two-year post-graduation diploma in management. He is working towards establishing a revenue plan which will help monetise the performances of singers and musicians who are popular on YouTube. These are artists with over a million subscribers, but get paltry earnings.
The other is a logistics enterprise for B2B food deliveries by alumna Mansi Mahansaria, 37. “She manages around 20 refrigerated trucks that deliver food and baking products to customers. There’s no high-end tech involved in this and no propelling app. But the business structure is so strong, that the start-up is doing quite well,” says Majumdar.
The non-tech incubators follow the same high-standards of accountability. At pitching sessions, students must have clear ideas of what they are going to sell. And there’s no handholding. “Though several panel members assess the start-up ideas and hold one-on-one sessions, we try to scare the students at the initial stage,” says Majumdar. “We want to be sure that the students are passionate about their projects. So we zoom in on the risks and roadblocks to see how far are they ready to go.”
At Lovely Professional University (LPU), incubation support comes at the end of a five-step competition. “Students create a year-long business plan, then design their products and build them,” says Pratham Mittal, dean at LPU. Alongside are online workshops to hone specific skills. When they’re ready, a jury of professors conducts interviews and the shortlisted teams pitch their ideas to investors. “At our university, there are more non-tech startup ideas than tech ideas,” Mittal says. “They are brimming in the fields of law, agriculture and hotel management.”
Shanky Sungroya, 23, pursuing second year in MSc, Agriculture Agronomy, School of Agriculture, LPU, is the founder of Green Grocer, a startup that connects people to local farmers and vendors to boost the sale of local produce. “With dwindling incomes of farmers, I wanted to do something for them. We have kiosks on campus and outside selling local produce,” says Sungroya. Campus canteens and staff were their first customers and as word spread, their idea became a hit. “The farm-to-plate business model was mentored a great deal in the incubator, right from market research to pricing and allotting budgets,” he adds.
An obstacle race
Despite startup ideas brimming in the non-tech arena, the major challenge is the public perception that nothing can happen without technology. “Even though we work out several strategies, it is difficult for non-tech startups to get accepted in the ecosystem. Investors first look whether a business is tech-oriented. If the answer is no, they lose interest,” says Priyank Narayan, director of entrepreneurship programmes at Ashoka University.
There needs to be enough marketing for these startups, says Mittal. “The tech guys know how to play around with the web, boost digital marketing and nail the promotions by using coding,” he says. The other disciplines need catching up.
However, there is rising investor interest, says Mumbai-based education counsellor Karan Gupta. “Investors are looking for fresh ideas and they are eager to fund them,” he says. “The trick lies in how you promote the startup. Several students have approached me for guidance on how to pitch ideas. You need to believe in your plan first and then present it in a smart way.” But it would still take some years for the investors to understand non-tech concepts and accept them as readily as they do the tech-driven ones.
