"It's Not About How Many Companies You Incubate— It's About How Many Are Still Standing Five Years Later."

Is IIT-M’s Pravartak just another incubator for startups? Or is it different? To answer that, EFY’s Akanksha spoke to Shankar Raman from Pravartak, and here is what she discovered...

- DR M.J. SHANKAR RAMAN

What sets Pravartak's incubation model apart, and how do you measure its success?

We go beyond offering funding and space. Our team embeds with startups, guiding them daily for up to two years. Each incubatee must validate market fit through IIT-M’s Gopalakrishnan-Deshpande Centre cohort programme. Co-development with faculty and industry experts ensures real-world relevance. Our approach is hands-on, with strong customer and VC connections. The goal is not how many companies we incubate, but how many still stand five years later, a true measure of impact. At Pravartak, we build survivability through funding strategies, customer connections, and business model refinement.

How do you support startups beyond incubation?

When startups lack business or marketing capability, we assign in-house experts to represent their product, for a nominal fee. This reinforces the principle that every service has value, and financial discipline is essential.

How do you support startups beyond incubation, especially to cross the valley of death?

That phase, typically in years three to five, is where many startups fail due to lack of cash flow. We have learned from IIT Madras Research Park (IITMRP) that the key is to ensure cash inflow by year two. We do this by facilitating early service contracts or pilot deployments. Once cash starts flowing, their survival chances increase significantly.

Do you nurture student-led startups and tap ideas of IITians?