Water and energy
Flostat
7.6M litres of water saved every year
- 14,100 kWh of energy saved a year
From idea to venture, at GITAM
GITAM's pre-incubator. From first idea to first customer, with a coach beside you all the way.
For
Registration open
GIC 2026
GITAM x Bower Innovation Challenge. VDC's national student venture challenge, with ₹50 lakh+ in prizes and ecosystem value.
Registration closes in
53Days
04Hours
28Mins
Applications open · B.Tech
Minor in Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Build more than an engineering project: a 20-credit experiential minor where you find real problems, build solutions, test them with users and pitch.
- 20credits
- IV–VIIIsemesters
- 30seats
One of India’s Largest Pre-incubators
Three campuses
- Visakhapatnam
- Hyderabad
- Bengaluru
55,000+Students impacted
800+Venture teams coached
₹5.3 CrIn grants raised
Top 5Pre-incubator, Startup Mahakumbh 2025
Built at VDC
Ventures already making a difference
Clean energy
August Briquettes
8,500+ tonnes of biomass briquettes made
- Replacing nearly 7,000 t of coal
- About 20,000 t of CO₂ avoided
- Supporting 100+ rural women
Logistics
Lorio
3,000+ trucks onboarded
- Serving 1,500 customers
- Operating costs cut by 20–30%
Government of India funded FlexiHeal and COAST-SAFE, both supported by VDC, won funding in the MSME Idea Hackathon.
More from VDC
- SpaceSkool
- Zenith Zap
- Millet Melt
- Pathvision
- Capire
Find your programme
Where are you now?
Students, alumni and faculty at GITAM, at any stage.
Best fit for you
Start with the E-Club
Come to a talk, bootcamp or Chai Chat on your campus. B.Tech students can also take the I&E Minor.
Meet the E-ClubBest fit for you
Pre-incubation, from the start
A coach helps you and your team check the problem is real before you build anything.
Start your ventureBest fit for you
Pre-incubation and the Makerspace
Test it with real users and improve it. The Prototyping Grant (up to ₹2 lakh) helps you build.
Start your ventureBest fit for you
Pre-incubation, towards launch
Run a measured pilot, apply for the GAP Fund (up to ₹5 lakh) and get ready to pitch for incubation at DST GITAM-iTBI.
Start your ventureBest fit for you
G-TEC, then pre-incubation
G-TEC checks your IP and readiness; pre-incubation builds the venture around it.
Bring your researchPre-incubation · Our core programme
Where ideas become ventures.
Pre-incubation is the stage before incubation. With a VDC coach beside you, you prove the problem is real, build a first version and win your first customers.
- StartAn idea
- With VDCPre-incubationCoach · Mentors · Makerspace · Funding
- NextIncubationDST GITAM-iTBI
- ThenPost-incubationInvestors · Industry · New markets
- Venture teams coached
- 800+
- Prototyping Grant
- ₹2 lakhPer venture
- GAP Fund
- ₹5 lakhPer venture
- Pre-incubator, Startup Mahakumbh 2025
- Top 5
What you get when you join
Funding, as you progress
Joining makes your team eligible for the Prototyping Grant (up to ₹2 lakh) to build, then the GAP Fund (up to ₹5 lakh) once you have early customers.
A coach and mentors
A venture coach works with your team throughout, with First-In, Build, R&D and Invest mentors when you need them.
The Makerspace
Mechanical, electronics and integration areas on all three campuses to build your prototype.
A path to incubation
Ventures with traction pitch to move on to DST GITAM-iTBI.
What happens when you start
- 1
Tell us about your idea
Fill in the short form below and choose your campus.
- 2
Meet a venture coach
A first conversation on your campus about the problem, the team and where you are.
- 3
Work through the programme
About 100 days of milestones with your coach. At each review you decide together: continue, iterate or stop.
- 4
Unlock funds and incubation
Apply for the Prototyping Grant to build, the GAP Fund once you have customers, then pitch for incubation.
Explore our facilities
A place to build on every campus
Each GITAM campus has a VDC centre with workspaces and meeting rooms for venture teams, and a Makerspace for building prototypes.
Visakhapatnam
VDC Visakhapatnam
- Workspaces and meeting rooms
- E-Club space
- Makerspace
Hyderabad
VDC Hyderabad
- Workspaces and meeting rooms
- Makerspace
Bengaluru
VDC Bengaluru
- Workspaces and meeting rooms
- Makerspace
Makerspace · All three campuses
Build your prototype on campus
A Makerspace on each GITAM campus, with a team to help you plan the build and use the equipment.
- MechanicalMake, shape and assemble physical parts.
- ElectronicsCircuits, sensors and embedded hardware.
- IntegrationBring the parts together into a working prototype.
How to use it
- Open to GITAM students, alumni and faculty building something.
- Tell the VDC team on your campus what you want to build.
- Plan it with the Makerspace team, book time and build.
Partner centre · DST G-TEC
Research to real-world use
The DST GITAM Technology Enabling Centre helps faculty and researchers take technology out of the lab: matching it to a real need, checking its readiness, and setting up a pilot, licence or venture.
- 1,550
- Patents surveyed
- 305
- Patents mined
- 104
- Industries and MSMEs reached
- 01Discover technologiesSearch by need, sector or readiness level↗
- 02Submit a problemShare an industry or public-sector challenge↗
- 03Start a collaborationFind researchers, labs and validation partners↗
- 04Protect an inventionPrior-art review, patent filing and IP decisions↗
- 05Know your TRL12 questions for an indicative readiness level↗
Programmes
Everything VDC runs
Pre-incubation
Turn your idea into a venture with a coach, mentors, the Makerspace and funding.
What happens nextYou meet a venture coach on your campus and start testing the problem.
Entrepreneurs Club
A student-run club on every campus: talks, bootcamps and Chai Chats.
What happens nextCome to the next E-Club session on your campus and meet other builders.
GIC 2026
VDC's national venture challenge, for UG students and graduates from 2025 on.
What happens nextRegister your team by 6 Jan 2027; the Grand Finale is on 12 Feb 2027 at GITAM Hyderabad.
Minor in Innovation and Entrepreneurship
20 credits from Sem IV to VIII for B.Tech students. 30 seats; applications are open.
What happens nextSee the courses, the seats and how to apply.
Makerspace
Mechanical, electronics and integration areas to build your prototype.
What happens nextTell the VDC team on your campus what you want to build, then book time.
Pre-incubation
Bring an idea or early venture back to GITAM, with the same support as students.
What happens nextYou meet a venture coach and pick up from wherever your venture is.
Mentor GITAM ventures
Built or worked in a startup? Guide teams through pre-incubation.
What happens nextWe match you with teams that need your experience, at the time you can give.
Makerspace
Mechanical, electronics and integration areas to build your prototype.
What happens nextTell the VDC team on your campus what you want to build, then book time.
Pre-incubation
Start a venture from your idea or research, on your own or with students.
What happens nextA coach works with you from idea to first customers; G-TEC can help with the IP.
G-TEC tech-transfer support
Get your research and IP assessed and packaged for a licence, pilot or venture.
What happens nextG-TEC reviews your work and suggests the best route to market.
R&D mentors
Mentors focused on commercialising research.
What happens nextWe introduce you to a mentor who has taken research to market.
Faculty I&E training
300 faculty trained in innovation and entrepreneurship so far.
What happens nextJoin the next batch when it's announced.
EDP and MDP programmes
Development programmes through GITAM School of Business.
What happens nextAsk us about the next programme and its dates.
Young Entrepreneurs' Programme
Four days for Grades 6–12, online or hybrid, with a one-month startup internship.
What happens nextFour days of sessions, then a one-month internship with a startup.
FUEL: Future Entrepreneurs and Leaders
Mentoring school students in innovation, with IIC ATL linkages.
What happens nextWe plan the sessions and mentoring with your school.
Basics of Entrepreneurship
A 10-week programme for high-school students.
What happens nextTen weekly sessions, planned with your school.
WISE: Women Initiated Social Entrepreneurship
Coaching and support for women entrepreneurs.
What happens nextWe plan coaching and support with your group.
Online EDP for women entrepreneurs
15 days online, with the Tata Chemicals Society for Rural Development.
What happens nextAsk us for the dates of the next batch.
GIC 2026 Junior track
Class 10–12 teams compete in VDC's national challenge.
What happens nextRegister a Class 10–12 team on the GIC site.
What's on
Upcoming events
- GIC 2026
GIC 2026 registration closes (extended)
Wed, 6 Jan · Online, 11:59 PM IST
- GIC 2026
GIC virtual bootcamp and coaching
8–13 Jan · Online, with a personal mentor
- GIC 2026
GIC Round 2 pitch decks due
Mon, 18 Jan · Online, both tracks
- GIC 2026
GIC Junior Track final
Wed, 27 Jan · Top 8 Junior teams
Card game · Infinity by Sunday Entrepreneur
Not sure your idea is ready? Play a card.
Pick a deck, flip a card, answer the question for your idea.
∞ InfinityProblemTap to flip
Problem
On social media
Follow VDC and the E-Clubs
Entrepreneurs Club
A student-run club on every campus
The E-Club is run by students, for students who want to build. It brings founders to campus, runs hands-on bootcamps and helps run GIC, VDC's national venture challenge.
- 90+
- Members on each campus
- 3
- Campuses
- Speaker SeriesFounders and operators on what building a venture is really like.
- BootcampsHands-on days that take you from a problem to a first idea.
- Chai ChatsInformal conversations with founders, mentors and each other.
- GIC 2026VDC's national venture challenge, with E-Club members helping run it.
The team
The people behind VDC
Raja Kumar BollemPrincipal Venture CoachVisakhapatnam
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Dr. Chandra Mouli KVVNRPrincipal Venture CoachVisakhapatnam
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C Sandhya Rani VandrasiSenior Venture CoachVisakhapatnam
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Manas MallaVenture CoachVisakhapatnam
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Monika Sree GouduVenture CoachVisakhapatnam
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Tejaswi GuthulaExecutiveVisakhapatnam
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Anil PukkalaMTSVisakhapatnam
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Tharun BoniProgramme ExecutiveVisakhapatnam
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Deepak BeheraVenture CoachHyderabad
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Supritha SVenture CoachBengaluru
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Mahesh MakenaEngineer, MakerspaceBengaluru
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Deepesh VangapulusuVenture CoachVisakhapatnam
inFAQ
Questions people ask first
Who can join pre-incubation?
Current GITAM students, alumni and faculty, on their own or in a team, at any stage from an idea on paper to early customers.
Whom should I approach on my campus?
Each campus has a Deputy Director: Vikas K Srivastav in Visakhapatnam, Fakhruddin (Sameer) Sheik in Hyderabad and Mahesh Varier in Bengaluru. Choose your campus in the form below and it reaches the right team.
How does the funding work?
Funding comes through pre-incubation. Teams in the programme become eligible for the Prototyping Grant (up to ₹2 lakh) to build a prototype, and the GAP Fund (up to ₹5 lakh) once they have early customers.
How long does it take?
About 100 days. Regular reviews with your coach decide whether you continue, iterate or stop.
Can faculty start a venture?
Yes. Faculty can bring an idea or a research result through pre-incubation, and G-TEC helps with IP and technology transfer.
I don't have an idea yet. Where do I start?
Join the E-Club on your campus: talks, bootcamps and Chai Chats are the easiest way in.
Talk to VDC
Tell us what you're building.
Choose your campus and we'll pass it to the right team there.