Mumbai: BITS School of Management (BITSoM), under the aegis of BITS Pilani, has launched BITSoM VERTEX, an artificial intelligence (AI) venture incubator, in partnership with Silicon Valley-based AI innovation studio LENZ, to support early-stage AI startups in scaling enterprise-ready products.
The incubator will focus on helping AI founders overcome challenges in moving from minimum viable products (MVPs) to commercially viable businesses by providing access to mentorship, enterprise pilots, investor networks and AI infrastructure.
BITSoM said it has partnered with Hack2Skill to conduct a nationwide search for AI entrepreneurs for the inaugural cohort. The incubator aims to support 100 AI startups over the next three years through a structured venture-building programme.
Selected startups will receive mentorship from Silicon Valley experts, access to enterprise validation opportunities, funding pathways, and support from student venture teams from BITSoM working on business development and market research.
“Artificial intelligence is fundamentally reshaping industries and redefining how businesses operate. Through BITSoM VERTEX, we are creating an ecosystem where founders can work with business leaders, industry partners and students to build solutions for real-world problems,” said Prof Saravanan Kesavan, Dean and Professor of Operations, BITSoM.
According to the institute, the incubator will prioritise startups working in areas such as enterprise AI, software automation, vertical AI, multilingual AI, edtech AI and financial AI.
Arvind Ravishunkar, Managing Director, BITSoM VERTEX, said the initiative aims to provide founders with access to customers, talent and resources to accelerate the commercialisation of AI innovations.
Applications for the inaugural cohort are now open, with founders from across India invited to apply.
