NSRCEL knows a good introduction is only the beginning

Someone makes an introduction. A founder sends an email. Then nothing happens. In July 2026, NSRCEL programme manager Akshay Joshi described a remarkably ordinary weakness in startup support: founders sometimes fail to follow up the connections they receive. An incubator can assemble an impressive network. Using it still requires a human being to send the second message.

That observation is a useful entrance to NSRCEL, IIM Bangalore’s entrepreneurship centre. Startup culture enjoys the theatrical moment: the pitch, the cheque, the photograph. Here, the less photogenic work gets considerable attention. Founders need to understand customers, repair business models and learn which question belongs in which room. A handsome slide deck has never answered an awkward customer question on its own.

The university opens its doors

Established in 2000 with support from Infosys co-founder N. S. Raghavan, NSRCEL developed inside a management school. Its early proposition answered a practical gap. Entrepreneurs needed business mentoring and the right connections alongside capital. Its academic address offered a place to bring those ingredients together.

The address did not restrict the audience to students. NSRCEL serves founders outside IIM Bangalore, including women entrepreneurs, student teams and social ventures. In 2017, its social incubation programme added another dimension: organisations addressing social problems could receive structured support alongside commercial startups. The question became wider than whether a venture might attract an investor.

“Success stories are important, but impact made on society is more significant.”Professor Suresh Bhagavatula · September 2018

By its November 2025 silver jubilee, IIM Bangalore reported that NSRCEL had supported 662 ventures across 82 towns during the preceding year. Geography matters here. Entrepreneurship support can become a conversation among people who already know one another in a handful of cities. A wider map brings different customers, constraints and business ambitions into the room.

Five months to ask better questions

Launchpad provides a concrete example of the method. The current five-month programme accepts founders at idea, prototype or minimum viable product stage. It combines workshops, individual mentoring and review checkpoints. Problem-solution fit, early product-market fit and governance appear on the syllabus. These are subjects whose importance usually becomes obvious just after ignoring them has become expensive.

There is no participation fee. The stated commitment is six to eight hours a week, with online activity and two in-person bootcamps. The top two startups can receive grants of up to ₹5 lakh. Admission, therefore, offers a structured period of work; it does not confer a cheque on everyone who arrives.

Women entrepreneurs have distinct routes. The Women Startup Program, launched in 2016 and now powered by Kotak BizLabs, supports venture development. Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women addresses established businesses: its published criteria include more than ₹30 lakh in annual turnover, at least three employees and a year of operations. Starting and scaling deserve different conversations.

A partner who can test the product

Sector programmes reveal NSRCEL’s particular place in the market. The Maruti Suzuki mobility programme gives selected startups an opportunity for a paid proof of concept with the carmaker, potentially leading to a business partnership. Participation is free and takes no equity. For a venture trying to reach an industrial customer, a test inside an operating company can answer questions that another networking evening cannot.

The Alstom partnership concentrates on sustainable mobility. Its remit includes transport infrastructure, alternative fuels, energy and logistics. An October 2025 IIM Bangalore account reported ₹3 crore in grants across 22 ventures. Examples included MetroRide’s metro connectivity services and Tadpole Projects’ conversion of conventional vehicles to electric ones. The subject is the transport system, with all its inconvenient moving parts.

Healthcare presents another set of obstacles. NSRCEL’s collaboration with DailyRounds offers access to laboratories, a hospital network and advice on regulation, intellectual property and finance. A medical venture needs evidence and a setting in which to test it. General business advice becomes more useful when it meets the realities of the sector.

The Fintech Centre of Excellence, a Government of Karnataka initiative supported by HDFC Bank Parivartan, connects founders with regulatory guidance, industry partners and investment preparation. Its current programme is free and equity-free. Its eligibility requirements include a developed product and traction. An idea on a napkin belongs in a different conversation.

Who pays for the useful room?

NSRCEL brings together academic resources, corporate sponsors, foundations, donors and government partners. Several programmes use this support to remove participation fees and equity requirements. The arrangement gives partners a role in developing ventures while founders receive expertise and access. Terms must be read programme by programme; one cohort’s grant offer cannot be borrowed by another.

Compared with a generic accelerator, NSRCEL’s programme mix makes the choice unusually specific: management learning, social venture support and industry access sit together. Its current team page lists Rasika Prashant as CEO. The employee culture page describes hybrid working, coaching and continuous learning. Teaching founders and developing the people who support them share an institutional home.

A useful way to read the programme list is to name the missing piece before choosing the institution. A student team may need to establish whether anyone wants its prototype. An established business may need to organise growth. A regulated product may need an informed conversation about compliance. Those problems can look identical in a pitch deck and require very different help.

The same distinction changes how success should be judged. A pilot, a clearer customer definition and a revised operating plan are different outcomes. Founders should decide which one matters next, then ask whether the programme has the people and setting to help them pursue it.

The second email is your job

The practical lesson is portable. Identify your immediate obstacle, choose a suitable programme and arrive with evidence. Ask a mentor a question that can change a decision. Act on the answer. Report what happened. Follow up an introduction without treating the person making it as a vending machine for customers.

This takes time and a willingness to reconsider assumptions. Founders who need immediate, guaranteed money will find selective grants an uncertain answer; those expecting introductions to sell the product for them face the same problem Joshi described. NSRCEL supplies useful conditions for company building. The founder remains responsible for the company.