Newton School’s Startup Programme Backs Student Founders With Seed Funding
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Engineering students at Newton School of Technology (NST) are building startups, attracting early funding and generating revenue before completing their degrees, according to the institute.
NST said ventures developed under its Startup Foundry incubation programme have together generated more than Rs 1 crore in revenue. The programme is designed to help students turn business ideas into market-ready products through mentorship, product development support and investor exposure.
Selected students move through stages such as idea validation, prototype development, user testing and business planning before presenting their ventures to a panel of industry experts, venture capitalists and angel investors.
The programme also connects promising startups with StartX, NST’s Rs 1 crore seed fund. Startups selected under the initiative can receive pre-seed funding of up to Rs 10 lakh based on factors such as user adoption, revenue potential, market opportunity and team strength.
According to NST, more than 500 students have participated in its entrepreneurship ecosystem so far, with support from a network of over 100 mentors.
Several student-led ventures have already moved beyond the idea stage. AI productivity platform NavisLabs has been selected for Y Combinator Startup School 2026, while In.culcate, an AI-based storytelling platform, has secured funding from the Indian School of Business at a reported valuation of Rs 5 crore.
Other startups include Kixar, a sports venue booking platform that has generated Rs 30 lakh in revenue; CarbonCraft, which makes laser-engraved metal credit cards and has reported Rs 55 lakh in revenue; Campus Connect, a platform linking college aspirants with current students for paid mentoring sessions; and Vyapaar Express, a WhatsApp-based B2B logistics marketplace currently being piloted in Maharashtra.
Siddharth Maheshwari, co-founder of Newton School of Technology, said students are increasingly building products that address real-world problems and finding paying customers while still studying.
The institute said Startup Foundry differs from short-term innovation contests by offering year-round support through workshops, founder-led sessions, technical guidance and one-on-one mentoring.
Industry professionals, including Vivek Sridhar, CTO at Microsoft for Startups, and Udit Goyal, COO and Head of Early Stage Startup Ecosystem at Google Cloud India, mentor participating students on product development, technology and market readiness.
NST said the startups emerging from the programme span sectors such as artificial intelligence, fintech, logistics, sports technology, student services and financial literacy, with the aim of helping student entrepreneurs build investment-ready companies before they graduate.
