NSRCEL: IIM Bangalore's 25-year-old launchpad for innovation-led startups

NSRCEL — the Nadathur Sarangapani Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning — is the entrepreneurship and incubation arm of IIM Bangalore, established in 1999–2000 with the support and vision of N. S. Raghavan, co-founder of Infosys. Its thesis: nurture innovation-led entrepreneurship as a launchpad for tech innovation, combining IIM Bangalore's management depth with mentor networks, a "Startup Kit" of 116+ product and service providers, and corporate and government partnerships — now organised around hyper-specialised Centres of Excellence rather than one-size-fits-all incubation.

Scale

The numbers are substantial: 3,100+ ventures supported, 7,400+ startups impacted, $7B+ in enterprise value created by incubated startups and 35,000+ jobs — with 720+ ventures across 24 states in FY25 alone, run on a hybrid digital-physical model. Support runs from idea-stage validation through growth-stage scaling and investment readiness; no fixed direct seed cheque is publicly stated, with funding flowing via mentor and investor connects and partner grant programmes.

Programmes

The Women Startup Program, Kotak BizLabs (Velocity 2025-26), a FinTech Centre of Excellence (a ₹13.24 crore five-year commitment from the Karnataka government — ₹8 crore+ for incubation and acceleration, ₹5 crore for skilling via IIMBx), Sbif Leap for incubation capacity in the Northeast, a Healthcare Incubation Program with DailyRounds, Maruti Suzuki mobility incubation, the Swavalambane Karnataka rural women entrepreneurs programme, and Deloitte India modules on governance, taxation and M&A.

Notable startups

WeVOIS (₹36 crore Series A, IoT waste management), Hala Mobility (₹51 crore pre-Series A, e-mobility), Angirus IND (bricks from recycled plastic), Chokhat Home and Tickle Your Art (both Shark Tank India equity deals) and Klimate (wearable personal cooling).

People

CEO: Rasika Prashant (Tata Soulfull co-founder), from 8 June 2026; Chairperson: Prof. Venkatesh Panchapagesan; former CEO Anand Sri Ganesh.

How to engage

Apply via programme pages on nsrcel.org — applications run through the Accubate portal (e.g. kotakbizlabs.accubate.app). Choose the Centre of Excellence or programme that matches your sector rather than a generic application; the specialised tracks carry corporate partners and grant linkages with them. NSRCEL also collaborates with peers like T-Hub and IIT Delhi's FITT on resource-sharing, so an NSRCEL affiliation can open doors across the national incubation network.