I-Venture @ ISB, the brand umbrella for entrepreneurship at the Indian School of Business, is committed to promoting innovation and entrepreneurship responsibly and sustainably. This is demonstrated through its two business incubators, DLabs Incubator Association and AIC ISB Association, which provide comprehensive support to startups, to foster profitable ventures that create meaningful social and environmental impact.

Additionally, I-Venture @ ISB is involved in multidisciplinary research initiatives and academic programs that create and strengthens entrepreneurial mindset and rigour. I-Venture @ ISB collaborates with corporations, bilateral organizations, government departments, and not-for-profits to roll out vertical-specific programs that cater to entrepreneurs and ventures of all stages and sectors, providing a holistic environment where entrepreneurs can interact, engage and collaborate with mentors, investors, academia and other stakeholders from the ecosystem. This ensures that its efforts are inclusive and accessible and that it can contribute to the development of a diverse and resilient entrepreneurial ecosystem nationally and internationally.

Overall, I-Venture @ ISB focuses on entrepreneurship and innovation aligns with the principles of sustainable development and has the potential to create significant positive impacts on society and the environment.

About DLabs and AIC ISB:

DLabs was established in 2014, with support from the Department of Science & Technology, GoI. DLabs is the incubation and acceleration arm of the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad Campus. 

Atal Incubation Centre (AIC) was established in 2017, with support from Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog. AIC is the incubation and acceleration arm of the Indian School of Business, Mohali Campus. 

Both incubators engage in supporting and nurturing early-stage founders to build high-impact investable startups. By leveraging ISB’s vast network pool, the incubators provide startups with the right support, expertise and tools necessary to build products, execute pilots and secure investments.

In terms of impact, DLabs and AIC ISB run social impact accelerators for social enterprises in Health, Agribusiness, Education and Climate Action. The acceleration program is designed to help enterprises create social impact at scale and comprises four aspects – fundraising support, high-touch business advisory, structured mentoring and technical assistance program and support in building networks for market access.

• Early-stage seed funding to support product development and readiness
• Mentoring and Technical assistance from the ISB community and other ecosystem stakeholders - to build long-term assets and strengthen market competitiveness
• Network Building - Market Access and follow-on funding to scale the business faster.
• Opportunity to build market opportunities in UK, Netherlands and Singapore (via I- Venture @ ISB’s Global Corridor Initiatives)
• Access to Infrastructure - access to physical co-working space and lab; through strategic partnerships, access to healthcare facilities & testing labs for heath-tech and agri-tech.

I-Venture @ ISB supports startups in identifying their challenges and then providing curated support. The goal is to transform innovative, commercially viable ideas across diverse sectors into successful businesses. 

 
So far, I-Venture @ ISB through its incubators has nurtured more than 300+ startups (out of which 70+ are women-led startups), and created 4000+ jobs. These startups went on to raise 2200+ Cr in private investment funds. Being sector agnostic, the incubators work with startups across sectors, primarily in Healthcare, Cleantech, Education, Agritech, Fintech, Smart City, Mobility, SaaS, Women & Wellness and Social Impact. The aim is to co-create potential solutions that can bring radical change in society and create a visible impact. 

AIC ISB & DLabs work closely with different government departments, organizationsand foundations, helping identify and train impact ventures, providing opportunities for financial support, and conducting skill and capacity-building programs for various stakeholders including but not limited to students, underprivileged youth of Telangana region, and corporates. 

 
Corporate engagement at I-Venture @ ISB delves deeper into activities facilitating CSR, corporate innovation, capacity development and training. The focus is to tap corporations looking for internal innovation or to address a pain point to increase operational efficiencies, lower costs, find new product lines, and more. The incubators support scouting for the best start-ups across the country to solve/address their requirements with innovative solutions.

 
The incubators have successfully run corporate innovation programs with SAP Lab, WWF India, US Consulate Hyderabad, HDFC Bank and Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation and are currently working with institutions like S&P Global and Samunnati. 

Both AIC ISB &DLabs is 80G, and 12A certified and are eligible under Section 135, Schedule 7 of the Companies Act 2013. It accepts CSR contributions from corporate houses for various purposes within the scope of its defined objectives.