For aspiring entrepreneurs in tier-II and tier-III cities, developing a business idea is often only the first hurdle. Finding investors, testing products, accessing industry networks and converting prototypes into commercially viable businesses can be more difficult, particularly for students without family or professional connections in the startup ecosystem.
Universities are increasingly stepping in to bridge these gaps, using incubation centres, innovation labs and investor-backed programmes to take student ventures beyond the classroom.
The approaches vary, from structured incubation and technology commercialisation to pitch competitions that connect young founders with investors. Chandigarh University’s (CU) Campus Tank, which has expanded its funding pool to $15 million for Season 2 from $6 million in the inaugural season, is one such initiative.
IIT Madras, meanwhile, has developed an ecosystem spanning student innovation, pre-incubation, research commercialisation and startup incubation.
The push comes as higher education institutions work to broaden access to entrepreneurship beyond established startup hubs. In its first season, CU’s Campus Tank recorded 21,789 registrations from more than 1,200 cities, including over 10,800 entries from universities and colleges.
Registrations were dominated by BTech, BCA students from smaller cities from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Punjab, Rajasthan, MP and UP, demonstrating that entrepreneurial ambition is no longer restricted to the metros.
“Promising founders and innovative ideas exist across the country, but access to investors, mentorship and entrepreneurial networks can vary significantly by geography,” Archita Nandi, director, Incubation, Chandigarh University, tells Education Times. Campus Tank was conceived to nurture entrepreneurial ambition earlier in a student’s academic journey.
“Geography must not become a barrier to entrepreneurial opportunity for promising business innovators from smaller cities, who need visibility and support to build sustainable businesses. Ultimately, it is about making entrepreneurship more accessible, helping founders move beyond ideas and connecting promising ventures with the resources they need to grow,” she adds. For Season 2, the initiative has brought together eight investment partners, including Apna, Venture Catalysts, Aeravti Ventures, PedalStart, Eaglewings, Faad, Be An Angel, and Cube Founders Space, with a focus on AI-led innovation, business productivity, upskilling and reskilling, healthcare technology, clean energy, agritech and education technology.
The challenge, however, extends beyond securing a place in a pitch competition. First-generation entrepreneurs often need guidance on product development, customer acquisition, fundraising and business operations before they can attract investment or scale their ventures.
“Participation in Campus Tank’s first season reflected interest across disciplines and sectors. Engineering students accounted for roughly a third of registrations, while management students made up about one in eight.
The remaining participants came from fields including science, commerce, computer applications, arts, law and healthcare. About one in five registrations came from women,” Nandi says.
AI, data, and future technologies accounted for 22.4% of submissions, followed by healthcare and wellness at 15.9%, and climate, clean energy and sustainability at 15.5%. “The startups associated with the programme illustrate how student entrepreneurs are approaching different market needs.
Krvvy, co-founded by Yash Goyal and Anant Bhardwaj of Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, is a women’s innerwear and shapewear brand focused on comfort and products designed for Indian body types. Offlyn, founded by Kumar Ayush Sinha and Arpit Arora, associated with Masters’ Union and RV College of Engineering, focuses on discovering and booking offline experiences, including workshops and social gatherings,” she adds.
Medoc Health, founded by Chandigarh University alumnus Utkarsh Luthra, is developing AI-driven technology for hospital management and patient-care automation. According to Nandi, its solutions have been adopted by multiple hospitals across states.
While IIT Madras does not have a pitch competition like Campus Tank, it provides a continuous, institutional pipeline of support. Its integrated ecosystem spans early-stage engineering experimentation at the Centre for Innovation (CFI), which offers 24-hour prototyping access across 14 clubs and eight competition teams, to structured pre-incubation via Nirmaan, launched in 2015 to convert student ideas into commercially viable prototypes.
The Entrepreneurship Cell (E-Cell), hosts student competitions and E-Summit to connect student founders directly with investors. Additionally, the ecosystem includes technology commercialisation training via the Gopalakrishnan-Deshpande Centre and the School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, integrating research degrees with founder fellowships. Anchored by the Sudha & Shankar Innovation Hub, specialised incubators, and the IIT Madras Incubation Cell, the framework provides dedicated business services and technical expertise.
Prof Gaurav Raina, IIT Madras, says that the institute’s ecosystem had supported approximately 565 startups by March 2026, with a combined valuation exceeding Rs 74,100 crore. The wider ecosystem connects researchers, student founders, industry and investors, helping ventures move from experimentation towards commercialisation.
For young founders, this continuity matters because funding is only one part of building a business.
Access to laboratories, prototyping facilities, intellectual property guidance, industry pilots, and potential customers can be equally important in establishing whether a product has a viable market. “Students can experiment with technology, develop prototypes, establish companies, access funding, and eventually scale their enterprises through an interconnected institutional ecosystem. The ecosystem has produced successful companies such as Ather Energy, Agnikul Cosmos, Uniphore and GalaxEye,” says Prof Raina underlining that institutions need to collaborate if entrepreneurship support is to reach more founders and address problems at scale. “For innovation at scale, we don’t need just platforms but partnerships also,” Prof Raina adds.