Business Incubators (BIs) are considered to be promising policy tools that support new ideas, innovation and technology oriented entrepreneurial growth. They have emerged as sound platforms to bring about economic development in any economy by converting and translating ideas and innovation in various disciplines of science and engineering into products, processes and services for commercial exploitation and therefore advantage of society. This may help reducing several avoidable risks in nascent start-up thereby increasing the chances of success of start-ups as well the time taken to gain momentum. During the last few decade as in several parts of the developed and developing countries, the concept of business incubator has started its journey in India. Significant support in initiating Business Incubation and its evolution has come from the Government of India through its various agencies.
KAZI NAZRUL UNIVERSITY Business Incubation Centre (KNU-BIC) is a business incubator established in 2020 as an initiative of KAZI NAZRUL UNIVERSITY (KNU) and is supported by MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises - Govt. of India) to boost the innovative and entrepreneurial ecosystem of latest India. Ministry of MSME has recognized KAZI NAZRUL UNIVERSITY as Host Institute (HI) to setup/establish Business lncubation (BI) to provide
'Support for Entrepreneurial and Managerial Development of MSMEs’.
Admission to BI is open to:
The proposals for business incubation should meet with one or more of the following criteria:
Applications for admission to BI will be prepared within the name of registered unlisted companies within the meaning of the Company Act, 1956. If a corporation has not been registered, an application could also be made within the names of all promoters/ founders; however, the promoters/ founders must make sure that the corporate is registered within a period of three months from the date of approval of the appliance for admission in BI.
The admission process could also be of the subsequent nature –
At the opening level, the potential incubates for admission in KNU Business Incubation Centre will be required to submit an application. Upon affirmative preliminary assessment, applicants will have to submit a detailed proposal consisting of:
Based on the documents submitted, the Business Plan will be screened by the KNU-BIC team for assessing the suitability of the proposal for further evaluation by expert members regarding its potential for incubation. Detailed scrutiny including financial and technical due diligence of the proposal shall then be administered by the expert members for evaluation of the proposal.
Some special criteria to be applied for evaluation (but not limited to these):
The expert members would be invited/ identified counting on the character of the proposal. Applicants could also be invited with their teams to form a presentation on their proposal. In order to enable the expert members to require an appropriate decision, members may invite any additional information from the applicants and/or revision within the proposal. Submissions to KNU-BIC will be kept confidential. KNU-BIC will have a sole discretion whether to admit or reject a proposal for incubation and therefore the decision of KNU-BIC in this regard shall be final. KNU-BIC is not bound to give any reason in case a proposal is rejected.
The incubate company will become a legal member of KNU-BIC after registration and can be entitled to avail various facilities offered by KNU-BIC. The incubatee shall pay an amount of Rs. 4000/- (Rupees Four Thousand only) to KNU-BIC towards the annual registration fee to be paid at the time of execution of this agreement and subsequently within fifteen days of the start of every year counted from the date of this agreement and shall still maintain their registration as long as they're permitted by the administration of KNUBIC to possess association with KNU-BIC as incubatee.
Virtual Incubation may be a concept of incubation that gives a chance to an incubatee to use KNU-BIC as a platform for developing innovative business solutions without being physically located at KNU-BIC premises. development activities are going to be coordinated and managed by faculty mentor/s. KNU-BIC is hospitable virtual incubation and shall offer the standard business and management support needed to incubate the startups on pay per use basis. Virtual incubators will need to pay ₹5000/year (Rs. Five Thousand only per year) because the registration fee.
Through this scheme, the virtual incubatee utilizes the intellectual resources of KNU with its concomitant financial benefits. And, the school and students are exposed to the numerous business environment.
Upon admission to KNU-BIC, the subsequent infrastructural facilities are going to be offered to the incubatee companies on a private basis, aside from a group of shared/ common infrastructure mentioned hereinafter:
All these facilities are going to be provided by KNU-BIC on a pay-per-use basis. Each incubate will need to pay the monthly rent (as decided by KNU-BIC) and bills for facilities and physical infrastructure provided. Subject to availability, an incubatee could also be given extra infrastructural facilities, requested for within the
application form aside from mentioned above, on a pay-per-use basis. An incubatee won't be allowed to use any infrastructural facility that he/she doesn't indicate on the appliance form. If the BI is unable to supply all requested facilities, then it'll inform the applicant before the commencement of the time period . While the BI will try its best to supply the mentioned/requested for infrastructural facilities to its incubatees BI can't be legally held liable for failure to try to to so.
If so desired by the incubatee, BI will allow access to other departmental laboratories and other resources of KNU for his or her products development purposes. However, this may be wiped out how to avoid clashes with the traditional course structure of the concerned discipline. Further usage of such resources shall get on commercial basis and in conformity with the policies of KNU.
On the completion of the incubation or when the Resident company leaves the KNU business incubation centre thanks to the other reason, all the furniture, space and the other facilities provided shall be surrendered to KNU-BIC in fitness (after allowing normal wear and tear within the case of equipments). All costs incurred for such restoration to fitness shall be borne by the resident company and just in case KNU-BIC has got to incur any longer expenditure to urge the equipment or the space back to fitness then an equivalent shall be recovered from the resident company and/or its directors or promoters. All dues should be cleared by the resident company before it leaves the incubation otherwise, all outstanding dues shall be recovered from the corporate or its directors and/or promoters.
Apart from company specific infrastructure as stated above, KNU-BIC will provide certain facilities be shared by all incubatee companies which might include:
In addition to physical infrastructure, KNU-BIC intends to supply other support and services including:
The consideration, for infrastructure facilities additionally to other, payable by the corporate for the utilization of the incubation center facilities and infrastructure are going to be as follows:
Mentors stand to realize the satisfaction of creating a difference in fledgling entrepreneurs’ life and contributing back to the society. additionally, they also get to stay in-tuned with new technologies, people, and networks by working with the young entrepreneurs.
Faculty mentoring are going to be available on a pay-per-use basis as are going to be industry mentoring which can be arranged by BI.
KNU-BIC, by default, will allow a period of incubation of twelve months. this will be extended to eighteen months on approval from the KNU-BIC.
After eighteen months, if the incubatee wishes, he/she can continue at KNU-BIC for 6 more months by paying running costs – this being subject to approval from KNU-BIC. After this era, the incubatee are going to be obliged to exit the incubator.
Incubatee firms/companies may graduate from the KNU-BIC under the subsequent circumstances:
Decisions regarding graduation or further extension to tenure are going to be made on a case by case basis by the IC
management supported the above considerations.
Firms/companies incubated at KNU through the BIC may apply for permission to brand themselves as “KAZI NAZRUL UNIVERSITY Incubated Firms/Companies” or “Incubated by KAZI NAZRUL UNIVERSITY”. Conditions on terms of use of such branding are going to be defined within the signed incubation agreement.
KNU-BIC will evaluate the performance of incubatee companies, who are going to be required to submit information on a quarterly basis during a prescribed format. Additionally, incubatee companies can also be subject to annual assessments. The KNU business incubation committee can also reserve other criteria because it deems fit, to guage the performance of the incubatee. KNU-BIC reserves the proper to terminate the time period of an incubatee, if his/her performance evaluation report is unsatisfactory.
KNU-BIC will take stake in the revenue generated by the incubatee for the services rendered towards him. The service model proposed is distribution (3%) with the potential incubates for a period of three years from the date of graduation.
When an individual plays two separate roles in two different positions and he/she uses one position for his/ her personal benefit within the other role, a situation resulting in conflict of interest arises. KNU-BIC will strive for keeping harmony in between its board members, employees, mentors, consultants, affiliates, incubatee companies, their employees, persons connected to them or their promoters, employees and staff, various service providers and suppliers.
Conflicts between private interests and official responsibilities of all stakeholders must be handled during a transparent manner, and KNU-BIC considers full voluntary disclosure because the best mechanism for managing conflicts of interest. Since situations resulting in conflict of interests are inevitable, it's expected that the interested persons follow transparency in their actions supported full disclosure of relevant information by them. Following guidelines are suggested for management of actual or potential conflict of interests and to deal with disputes arising out of conflict of interests and maintenance of confidentiality:
A committee could also be found out by KNU-BIC to resolve any dispute over such situation causing conflicts of interests.
Further during the method of incubation, certain proprietary information can also be exchanged between various parties which are of confidential or sensitive nature. The confidentiality of such information must be maintained.
The agreements which are required to be signed by the firms/companies (or individuals) to the extent applicable are as follows:
The incubatee company will understand and acknowledge that KNU-BIC intends to supply supports and services to the corporate in straightness to pursue its objective to market entrepreneurship by converting innovative technologies developed within the Institute to commercialization by incubating and supporting new enterprises. it's understood that by agreeing to supply various supports and services, KNU-BIC doesn't undertake responsibility for:
