Aug 2014 | Issue 3

Society for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (SINE)Society for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (SINE)

33rdrd floor, CSRE Bldg., IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400 076. www.sineiitb.orgfloor, CSRE Bldg., IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400 076. www.sineiitb.org

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

SINE Newsletter | Sep 2014 | Issue 3

Aug 2014 | Issue 3 2

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 SINE‘s

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

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.

RING-SIDE VIEW

Next ten years of SINE

Aug 2014 | Issue 3 3

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-to-

market 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. Khurana‘s 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.‖

SINE UPDATES

SINE gets a new CEO!

Aug 2014 | Issue 3 4

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, tying-

up 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

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

Existing Companies

New Entrants

SINE COMPANY UPDATES

Incubatees at SINE

Aug 2014 | Issue 3 5

Covacsis Technology, founded in 2009 by Tarun Mishra & Abhijeet

Mhatre, is a SINE graduate company. The company‘s 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 developer‘s productivity. Appvigil can detect Mobile OWASP Top 10. No training is

required for users. Website: http://appvigil.co/ ; www.wegilant.com

SINE COMPANY UPDATES

Company News

Aug 2014 | Issue 3 6

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, human-

powered 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/

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

ARTICLE

Innovation & Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in IITB Pradeep Pillai, Business Development Manager, SINE

Aug 2014 | Issue 3 7

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 semester-

long 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 non-

profit 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.

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 ‗Tinkerer‘s 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 IITB‘s

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

Aug 2014 | Issue 3 8

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 2012-

13.

8 start-ups have been formed over past 5

years with technology developed at IITB.

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

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

Aug 2014 | Issue 3 9

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

people of India.

To foster an environment of creativity and

innovation among the students of IITB, and,

by extension, raise IITB‘s 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 proof-

of-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 (non-

IITB) 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.

Aug 2014 | Issue 3 10

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.

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!!!

EVENT REPORT

Launch of IASCEND Report by Dr. Aparna Rao,

Senior Project Manager, Desai Sethi Centre for Entrepreneurship, IITB

Aug 2014 | Issue 3 11

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 matter-

of-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

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 pre-

planned 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 dream…Today, 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.

Aug 2014 | Issue 3 12

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.

GS: The venture is an

offshoot of our research in

communication networks.

There was some level of

technology already in place.

The ‗productization‘ –

converting technology into

a usable and versatile

product was far more

complex and evolved

compared to the specific

technology piece. Many

academicians may not appreciate the

complexities involved in this process. It is

difficult for them to comprehend that one

technology may only be a small part of a

complete solution which a customer

requires.

In case of Vegayan, the technology piece

was on network optimization. This was

insufficient in itself from an end-user

perspective and initial piece constituted only

a small part of the final offering. They had to

build on a complete solution. This meant

entering big turf, competing with existing

players of the likes of IBM, HP.

Q. What challenges did you face? How did

you overcome these?

SS: There is nothing laid out for the

entrepreneur. One learns along the way. At

SEDEMAC, we realized that the engineering

process of giving concrete shape to an idea,

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

from business backgrounds

take it in their stride.

Another challenge is selling.

In B2B selling, the

entrepreneur has to be able

to design a product around

the technology and sell the

concept in a way that the

customer sees commercial

viability and value.

GS: There are complex and

dynamic variables that need to be

maneuvered, which cannot be planned

beforehand. Challenges like uncertainties

related to technology, financial

requirements and constraints, team

dynamics, market forces, competitive

landscape – many of these are not in

control, as far as the entrepreneur is

concerned. The business plan is always

evolving and the final structure and shape of

the venture rarely resembles the original

plan. An ambitious plan faces challenges at

every stage.

The challenge of technology itself poses a

high entry barrier; the same barrier stands for

others and thus, in a way, the entry barrier

itself becomes a shield. The entrepreneur

works in the security of this knowledge and

optimizes upon his research and product

design.

“The business plan is

always evolving and

the final structure and

shape of the venture

rarely resembles the

original plan.”

Aug 2014 | Issue 3 13

The trajectory involves theoretical concept –

experimentation – business idea –

productization – selling – delivery. Testing in a

laboratory environment at IIT was not possible.

Because of the network scale and

sophistication required, there is no such facility

available in an academic setting, neither is it

feasible to set up such a facility. We had to

convince customers to allow testing initially in

their test labs and then on their core networks,

which essentially meant the heart of their

massive business revenues. Customers need to

be convinced first on capabilities and then

look for totally reliable

solutions. It was a risky

proposition to demonstrate

our solutions using

customers‘ networks and the

first ‗yes‘ was an uphill task.

At the early stage, I used

personal funds and support

from angel investors.

Q. How important is team

composition and stability for

a new venture?

SS: The leadership team has

to be stable. Secondly, the

team members should be

complementary to each

other in their strengths. In India, there are very

few creative engineers. A team needs

members who are creative, understand the

vision of the company, the scope of the

product and the business nuances.

The team has to stick together in the lengthy

process of building the product, right from

concept to design to prototype, incorporate

modification according to requirements, and

at the end run the risk of this being obsolete or

being substituted by some other technology.

GS: Entrepreneurship is all about creating. The

core team has to be convinced on the larger

picture and have the conviction to stay on

course. Stability, coherence and transparency

are necessary for a good team in any

venture. Investors too, look at the team

strengths and credibility.

Q. What‟s your take on IP challenges? What

was your patenting strategy?

SS: Patents is a game played by big

companies against big companies. For small

companies, 'IP is comparable to a kitchen.' It

is necessary but, it is not everything. One

needs to continually innovate to make food

interesting for the household. Similarly, it is

necessary for small companies to have the

ability to continually create new IP. One

patent may not suffice. Thus, a technology

company needs to constantly innovate and

create new IP.

Much remains to be done in

improving India's IP regime. It

is tough to create something

that has substantial

commercial value. As of

now, India appears to be a

generation away from

companies based on IPs. In

fact, a healthy IP eco system

needs to be generated. It

does not even exist.

GS: The patent for our

technology had been filed

much earlier, at the stage of

research. The US patent was

granted after the formation of Vegayan and

multiple others are on the way. India has a

long way to go in technology product

innovation and IP. Unlike U.S., Europe or Israel,

India is not known for its technology products

but, only known for its technical services in ICT

industry. Vegayan is one of the few tech

product companies of India.

Government rules and regulations are not a

hindrance. We deal with regulatory

authorities, and have had no issues while

complying with rules. However, the ecosystem

is not like that of U.S., where it is smooth and

efficient or China, where facilities and support

are offered by the government.

Q. What would you say about India‟s

ecosystem for technopreneurship?

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

“A healthy intellectual

property ecosystem

needs to be created in

India.”

Aug 2014 | Issue 3 14

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 well-

recognized 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.

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.

Aug 2014 | Issue 3 15

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 Exploration

To identify, fund and nurture ideas that ad-dress global health challenges

Phase 1: USD 100,000 ; Phase II USD 1 million

Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR)

New Millennium In-dian Technology Leadership Initiative (NMITLI)

Funds for scientific projects where mar-kets and technology risks are high.

Soft loans of up to a few crores

Department of Bio-technology (DBT)

BIRAC (Biotechnology In-dustry Research Assistance Council)

Biotechnology Igni-tion Grant Scheme (BIG)

To establish proof-of-concept, as a step to-wards commercializa-tion. Drugs, devices, diagnostics, agricul-tural & industrial bio-technology, etc.

Up to Rs 50 lakhs

DBT BIRAC Social Innovation programme for Prod-ucts: Affordable & Relevant to Societal Health (SPARSH)

Identify and provide support to cutting edge innovations to-wards affordable product development that can bring signifi-cant social impact and address challenges of inclusive growth.

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

DBT BIRAC Small Business Inno-vation Business Re-search Initiative (SBIRI)

Early stage funding for high risk, innovative ideas/products.

Up to INR 1 crore (mix of grant in aid & loan)

DBT BIRAC Biotechnology Indus-try Partnership Pro-gramme (BIPP)

Scheme caters to high risk, transformational technology / process development.

A few crores. Mix of grant, cost sharing and loans.

Department of Elec-tronics & Informa-tion Technology (DEIT)

R&D Projects Fund-ing

Grant to encourage R&D projects in fields of ICT

Up to 50% of project cost

Aug 2014 | Issue 3 16

Organiization Department Scheme Descriptiion Amount

Department of Elec-tronics & Information Technology (DEIT)

R&D Projects Fund-ing

Grant to encourage R&D projects in fields of ICT

up to 50% of project cost

DEIT Multiplier Grants Scheme

Grant to create in-digenous products/packages

2-4 crores, depend-ing on partners

Department of Sci-ence and Technology (DST)

Technology develop-ment

Water Technology Initiative (WTI) Pro-gramme

To develop low cost domestic purification technologies/ waste management

Up to 1 crore/ cost-sharing

DST Technology Develop-ment Board (TDB)

Technology Develop-ment Board

for working in indige-nous technologies

Loan @ 5-6% / Eq-uity Partnership

DST Technology Transfer Division

Instrumentation De-velopment Pro-gramme

To develop various analytical/monitoring electronic instru-ments and sensors

Mix of grants, loans, or equity partner-ship.

DST Technology Informa-tion, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC)

TIFAC-SIDBI Revolv-ing Fund for Technol-ogy Innovation Pro-gramme (SRIJAN)

To facilitate develop-ment and commer-cialization of innova-tive technology pro-jects

Soft loan up to one crore, subject to 80% of total project cost .

Department of Scien-tific and Industrial Re-search (DSIR)

Access to Knowledge for Technology De-velopment and Dis-semination (A2K+)

Technology Develop-ment and Utilization Programme for Women (TDUPW)

Promoting the adop-tion of new technolo-gies by women en-trepreneurs

DSIR Patent Acquisition and Collaborative Research and Tech-nology Development (PACE)

Patent Acquisition and Collaborative Research and Tech-nology Development (PACE)

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

DSIR Promoting Innova-tions in Individuals, Start-ups and MSMEs (PRISM)

Promoting Innova-tions in Individuals, Start-ups and MSMEs (PRISM)

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

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

DSIR Research & Develop-ment Industry (RDI)

Granting Recognition & Registration to In-house R&D units

scheme for granting recognition & regis-tration to in-house R&D units.

DSIR Scientific & Industrial Research Organisa-tions (SIROs)

Scientific & Industrial Research Organisa-tions (SIROs)

Recognition of SIROs

Aug 2014 | Issue 3 17

Organiization Department Scheme Descriptiion Amount

Ministry of Communi-cation and Informa-tion technology (MIT)

Department of Elec-tronics and Informa-tion Technology

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

Reimbursement of patent filing cost in Electronics / ICT ar-eas with patents al-ready filed in India.

50% or up to Rs 15 lakh for filling Inter-national patent

Ministry of Micro Small Medium Enter-prises (MoMSME)

National Manufac-turing Competitive-ness Council (NMCC)

Assistance for Grant on Patent/ GI Regis-tration

Grant after the pat-ent has been ob-tained by the organi-sation

Rs 25,000 for do-mestic patents and Rs 2 lakh for foreign patents

MoMSME Office of the Devel-opment Commis-sioner

Support for Entrepre-neurial and Manage-ment Development of SMEs through In-cubators

Provides grant to technology start-ups for prototyping and getting mentoring etc to build their companies

Rs 4 to 8 lakhs, sub-ject to 75% to 85% of project cost

MoMSME Office of the Devel-opment Commis-sioner

Marketing Assistance Scheme

Grant to take part in exhibitions for Mar-keting

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

MoMSME Office of the Devel-opment Commis-sioner

Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme for Mi-cro and Small Enter-prises

Loans for working capital as well as term loans are pro-vided.

Collateral Free Credit up to Rs 50 lakh

MoMSME Office of the Devel-opment Commis-sioner

Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme (CLCSS)

Loans to upgrade Plant and Machinery

Loans up to Rs 1 crore, upfront capi-tal subsidy up to 15% for technology upgradation

MoMSME Incentive for ISO 9000 /ISO 14001 /HACCP Certifications

Reimbursement of charges of acquiring ISO-9000/ISO-14001/HACCP certifications

Up to Rs. 75,000.

NABARD NABARD-SDC Rural Innovation Fund (RIF)

To promote innova-tion in farm, rural non-farm and micro-finance sectors

Up to 95% of total project outlay in grants and/or loans

National Innovation Foundation (NIF)

Micro Venture Inno-vation Fund (MVIF)

Soft Loans for un-aided, Green, Grass-roots’ technological innovation or a tradi-tional knowledge practice

up to Rs 10-15 lakhs

Small Industries De-velopment Bank of India (SIDBI)

SIDBI Ventures SME Growth Fund Equity Investment in wide range of growth sectors

Rs 2 crore to Rs 25 crore

Aug 2014 | Issue 3 18

Contacts at SINE Ajeet Khurana Chief Executive Officer ajeet@sineiitb.org

Prof. Milind Atrey Professor-in-charge matrey@ iitb.ac.in

Ms. Poyni Bhatt Chief Operating Officer poyni.bhatt@iitb.ac.in

Ms. C. V. Krishnaveni Project Manager krishnaveni@sineiitb.org

Dr. Pradeep B. Pillai 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.

Organiization Department Scheme Descriptiion Amount

Small Industries De-velopment Bank of India (SIDBI)

Direct Finance Term Loans from ac-tivities such as tech-nology upgradata-tion, infrastructure development, etc.

Rs 10 lakh and above

SIDBI Risk Capital Fund for MSMEs

Equity & convertible debt without collat-eral.

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

References

http://business.gov.in/starting_business/source_finance.php

http://www.venturecenter.co.in/funding/ (2012)