An Initiative Of

With the Right Support, Great Things Can Happen
What Is A Start-up Incubator?
A start-up incubator is an organization engaged in the business of fostering early-stage start-ups until the companies have sufficient financial, human, and physical resources to function on their own
The Incubator @ Kabir
Start-up incubators are already promoting innovation and revolutionizing the entrepreneurial ecosystem of higher education institutions. It is time that this culture of innovation percolates down to schools. In a first-of-its-kind initiative, St. Kabir has taken the lead to launch a start-up incubator at the school level

Idea Generation
The long journey of entrepreneurship starts with identification of a problem and having an idea to solve it. The incubator provides an ecosystem to trigger and nurture ideas and the tools to test them.

Product Creation
Converting ideas into products is an art as well as a science. The incubator provides the tools and techniques to enable rapid prototyping & building minimum viable products using the principles of design thinking.

Business Modelling
From the classroom to the real world is a big leap. Business modelling techniques from mentors from the industry help the students to take their products from the lab-shelf to the real world.

Launch & Scale-up
The difference between a good start-up and a great one is the potential for exponential growth. The incubator provides a platform for launching & scaling of market validated ideas, taking them to the next level.
Our Objectives
Fostering Entrepreneurship
By bringing about a culture of risk-taking, creativity, and problem-solving
Entrepreneurship Education
Educate students on business fundamentals through regular workshops
Building A Platform
For students to engage with business leaders and academic practitioners
Creating Opportunities
For real-world applications of textbook concepts that will create an impact
Creating Support Systems
Monetary and infrastructure support for ideas to turn into scalable businesses
Building Leadership Culture
Giving students opportunities to play leadership roles in the school environment
Our Guiding Principles
Vision
Nurture students to be responsible, resilient, and innovative entrepreneurs of the future.
Mission
Create an ecosystem that provides access to research, mentors, and funding for students to test and build their ideas into scalable and ethical businesses.
Values
Driven by courage, integrity, creativity, and a passion for excellence.
Meet the Team
Outside experts, school management, academic coordinators, and industry mentors - they have all come together to put together a world-class experience for the students

Program Director
Rakesh Rathi
Rakesh will be the Program Director & Lead Instructor for this program. He is an education industry specialist with a special interest in youth entrepreneurship and financial literacy education and training students for the skills required in the 21st century. A Chemical Engineer and MBA from premier institutions, a corporate veteran, a serial entrepreneur, and above all, a teacher - that's him! He brings with him a wealth of expertise from the corporate sector as well as the exciting world of creating start-ups. Rakesh looks forward to meeting the first cohort of the Kabir Incubator and undertaking an exciting journey with them!

School Lead
Deeptha Vivekanand
Deeptha Vivekanand is an educator and teacher-trainer at St Kabir where she leads the storytelling and reading program, along with other academic enrichment initiatives. She has worked for several years in the corporate training and development function of IT majors such as Wipro and HCL. She has also set up her own Education venture through which she designs and delivers story-based learning workshops for leading organizations. At the Incubator, she will support the Program Director and provide students with the requisite support, mentoring, and guidance.
The Mentors
World-class, industry-specific mentorship can have a huge impact on young start-ups. Our ever-growing team of mentors engages with students on a regular basis and helps them bridge the gap between classrooms and the real-world

Vivek Atray
Vivek Atray, ex IAS, is a Motivational Speaker, Author, Mentor, Advisor, Columnist and Visiting Professor. He has 8 TEDx Talks and 5 highly popular JOSH Talks and the founder of SUVICHAR Think Tank. He is also a founder of the Vibrant Networking Forum, Playwright Foundation, Chandigarh Literary Society and Co-Convenor of INTACH Chandigarh. He is a member of the Governor's Advisory Council for Chandigarh UT. As Director IT and Tourism, he was the man behind the Chandigarh IT Park. He spearheaded the award-winning e-SAMPARK project. He was quoted by The New York Times and The Observer of UK during this period.

Madhur Singh
Madhur Singh is currently Editor, India, at Eco-Business and Writer/Editor at the World Economic Forum. Her two decades as a journalist have been split nearly equally between Indian and international media -- she has been managing editor at IndiaSpend and FactChecker, India correspondent for Bloomberg Law, India reporter at Time magazine, leader writer and foreign correspondent at Hindustan Times, and reporter-sub editor at The Indian Express. She helps organize the Khushwant Singh litfest in Kasauli and London, and completed a Chevening fellowship in 2022.

Sameer Jain
Sameer Jain is the founder and CEO of Net Solutions, a digital consultancy and software development firm that creates, builds, and updates web and mobile apps. He is an angel investor and a founder member of the Chandigarh Angels Network and Plaksha University. He has received numerous honours, including Entrepreneur of the Year, and has been featured in worldwide publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur, and Inc magazines. He is an active member of many business and IT industry organizations, such as TiE and NASSCOM, and he now serves on the National Executive Council of NASSCOM.

Pankaj Mahindroo
Mr. Pankaj Mohindroo is the Chairman of India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA), the apex industry body representing the entire electronics sector in India. An MBA from Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi, he has a distinguished career spanning over three and a half decades during which he served in various Global and Indian industries including Sugar, Food, Telecom, Information Technology, etc. Mr. Mohindroo has been supporting the Government of India’s vision to establish India as the Global manufacturing HUB for Electronics and Components ecosystem in sync with the “Make in India” & “Digital India” initiatives.

Akshaya Gaur
Akshaya Gaur has over 42 years of experience in the Banking industry and has a track record of leadership in Banking Technology. He possesses in-depth expertise in a wide spectrum of traditional and emerging technologies in the banking sector. He has a proven track record of delivering major transformation and technology change programs in international environments across the UK, USA, Singapore, UAE, Kenya, Ghana, Zimbabwe and India. Akshaya is, currently, the Founder of Aayan, a consulting and advisory company in the FinTech, Digital Transformation, Payments & Banking Technology space.
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Timelines
Application Opens
12 March 2025
Last Date to Apply
21 March 2025
Applicant Interviews
Date to be announced
Final Selections Announcement
Date to be announced
Program Commences
Start of Academic Year 2025-26