We fund students
who actually build.
Adalwin Ignite backs Pune college students with ₹25,000–₹50,000, free servers, and mentors who've shipped — to turn a prototype or a sharp idea into something real. No equity today. No connections needed.
- ₹10,00,000
- cohort-1 pool
- ₹25–50K
- per team
- 0%
- equity today
- 3
- stages to funded
// how it works
From application to funded in three stages
Each stage is a real conversation about your work — fast, honest, and decided by humans.
Written application
Tell us what you're building and who's building it. Plain language — we read for substance, not polish. ~30 minutes, saves as you type.
online · ~30 min
Video round
Shortlisted teams record 3–5 minutes — every member on camera, no fancy editing. Show us the thing and why you're the ones to build it.
3–5 min · unlisted link
Final presentation
Meet us in person in Pune. Demo what you've got, talk through where it goes. Selected teams get the grant and start onboarding.
in person · Pune
// what you get
More than a cheque
₹25K–₹50K per team
Real money, released in milestone tranches as you build. A grant — not a loan. No equity changes hands today.
Servers, on us
Adalwin hosts your deployment, servers, and tooling at zero cost — so the grant goes into building, not into AWS bills.
Office hours with builders
Regular time with people who've shipped real products — code reviews, unblocking sessions, blunt feedback. No fluff.
Demo day
Close the cohort by presenting to the Adalwin network — your work, in front of people who can open doors.
// tracks
Two tracks. Same money. Same bar.
Pick the one that matches where you are today — the only difference is the evidence you bring.
track_a
Prototype
You've already built something — a working demo, a repo with real commits, an app a few people actually use. The grant helps you take it further.
→ evidence: a link we can open
track_b
Idea
You have a plan and the itch to build — but nothing shipped yet. That's fine. We're backing your thinking and your hustle, not a finished product.
→ evidence: a sharp execution plan
// why ignite
A fair deal, built for builders
We bet on builders, not résumés
Where you're from, which college you attend, who you know — none of it factors in. What you can make does. Half of every great founder story starts with a side project nobody asked for.
Small cheque, real leverage
₹25–50K plus free infra is enough to get a working thing in front of real users. That's the point — we'd rather fund ten scrappy demos than one polished deck.
Transparent terms, in plain language
No fine print games. The grant, the optional future-equity right, the IP license — all spelled out on this page and in an agreement you read before any money moves.
// eligibility
Can you apply?
If you can check every box, you're in scope. Read them honestly — we verify the basics, but we're rooting for you.
- Currently enrolled in a Pune college — every member, when you apply
- Teams of 1 to 4 people
- Final-year students welcome; already-graduated isn't this cohort
- Your project is not a college-curriculum assignment
- At least one member can personally build it — code or hardware
- No connections, no referrals, no famous-college requirement
// honest answers
The money, the terms, the catch
Everything Adalwin gets — and everything you keep — in plain language.
Who can apply?
Teams of 1–4 students where every member is currently enrolled in a college in Pune when you apply. Final-year students are welcome — but if you've already graduated, this cohort isn't for you. At least one member must be able to personally build the project — write the code, make the hardware — and the project can't be part of your college curriculum. That's it — no connections, no referrals, no famous college required.
How much is the grant?
Grants of ₹25,000–₹50,000 per team, from a ₹10,00,000 cohort-1 pool. How many teams we fund depends on the strength of the applications — we'd rather back every team that clears the bar than hit a quota. The money is released in milestone tranches — you and Adalwin agree on milestones at selection, and each tranche unlocks as you hit them.
What does Adalwin get?
The money is a grant — not a loan, and not equity today. You don't owe it back, and Adalwin doesn't own any part of your project when you receive it.
Here's the honest part: the agreement gives Adalwin a pre-agreed option to invest a fixed amount in your project, which converts to equity only if the project incorporates as a company or raises funding — plus the first right to invest in your first funding round. The full terms are written in the fellowship agreement, which you read and sign before any money moves. Take your time with it, show it to anyone you trust, and ask us anything.
Do I keep my IP?
Yes. You and your team keep ownership of everything you build. Adalwin gets a non-exclusive license to showcase the work — at demo day, on the Ignite site, and in program reporting. The full wording is in the fellowship agreement, which you read and sign before any money moves. Your project stays yours.
What about the servers?
Adalwin provides and hosts the infrastructure your project runs on — servers, deployment, and tooling — at no cost to you. Because we host it, we can see deployment activity and usage on the infra we provide. We use that to support you when things break, and to release milestone tranches based on real progress instead of paperwork. Less report-writing for you, more building.
What's expected once you're funded?
Use the grant and the infrastructure for the project you applied with — honestly and in good faith. That's the whole deal, and for almost every team it's the end of the story.
To protect the program and everyone in it, Adalwin keeps the final say on who is selected and on whether support continues, and reserves the right to pause or withdraw from the agreement — and to reclaim unused funds and provided resources — if it finds misuse or exploitation of the infrastructure, misrepresentation, or mistreatment of people. We'll always raise any concern with you first; these are protections, not gotchas.
Will this affect government grants I might apply for?
It might. Some government schemes have non-duplication clauses — NIDHI-PRAYAS, for example — meaning the same prototype can't receive funding from two sources. Taking an Ignite grant may affect your eligibility for those schemes for the same prototype. We'll flag this clearly during onboarding so you can decide with full information.
Can I reapply if I'm not selected?
Yes — please do. Reapplying is welcome and never held against you. Teams that keep building between cohorts often come back with exactly the evidence that gets them in.
My English isn't great. Is that a problem?
No. We judge substance, not polish. Answers in simple English or Hindi/Marathi-mixed are fine. Specifics — names, numbers, links — matter far more to us than grammar.
Something we didn't cover? ignite@adalwin.com
$ ignite apply
The best time to build
was in college.
You're in college. The application takes about 30 minutes — write plainly, link generously, and tell us what you'd make real.
Start your application →