The Boeing University Innovation Leadership Development (BUILD) program is designed by Boeing India for graduates and early stage startup entrepreneurs in the country. BUILD aims to encourage young entrepreneurial minds to develop ideas that can be converted into viable business offerings, aligned with Boeing’s vision of contributing to India’s robust startup culture.

Ready to take-off?

The program is open to students graduated or graduating in the year 2022 and early stage startup entrepreneurs in India. Boeing partners with incubators namely IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Gandhinagar, IIT Madras, IISC Bangalore, T-Hub Hyderabad, and KIIT Bhubaneshwar from across seven Indian states.

The idea submission timeline is now open and live until October 31, 2022. Applicants can submit ideas in the following fields:

Submission fields

Shortlisted teams from each of the University incubators will participate in the BUILD bootcamp.

These teams will get an opportunity to:

Learning oportunities

In the next phase, the BUILD bootcamp participants will pitch their ideas to Boeing, the incubator partners, and subject-matter experts from the startup community regionally. Subsequently, the regional winners get an opportunity to pitch at the Boeing Innovation Day in 2023.

The top seven teams from each incubator partner will be mentored by Boeing subject-matter experts, incubators, and startup mavens as part of an intensive learning program to help shape ideas into viable market-ready business offerings.

Each of these seven teams will receive a cash prize worth INR 10,00,000/-.

The flight plan

Flight plan

Crew on board

If you and your team (maximum 3 members) qualify under any of the categories below, you can go right ahead and apply.

Students

  • Students who graduated or graduating in the year 2022 from engineering stream (Bachelors or Masters) or enrolled in a PhD program, or are postdoctoral researchers
  • Applications from professors are also accepted

Entrepreneurs

  • Early stage startups – Startups in ideation stage (with an idea but without funding or an associated product and customers)

Launch now!

Applying to BUILD is easy.

  1. Click on the region where you study, work, and/or live.
  2. Fill out the application form available on the relevant incubator partner site.
  3. Hit submit!

The application submission window is live from September 2, 2022 until October 31, 2022. You will hear from Boeing and the respective incubator partner by November 30, 2022 in case your idea gets shortlisted.

Important to note

  • Multiple submissions in different regions will lead to disqualification.
  • Team sizes are limited to three members per team with no more than one Professor per team (if any)
  • Applicants must stick to their region only.

Apply now

Select region:

For more information on the program and for any queries read the FAQs here. You may reach out to nanditha.aroor@boeing.com or shweta.mangalampalli@boeing.com for further inquiries.

The initial success

The first edition of BUILD in 2019 attracted a record number of entries with more than 850 innovator teams applying from tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3 cities across India. Over 80 selected teams were mentored by subject matter and industry experts as part of an intensive learning program, to shape and refine their ideas. Six winners were selected from 26 finalist teams. The final winners were:

Finalist teams

Startups:

  • Pi Drones, Kanpur: Hybrid Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) drones for long-range inspection (autonomous vehicles)
  • Terracarb, Bengaluru: Proprietary process for manufacturing graphene (materials)
  • Photom Technologies, Ahmedabad: Maintenance solutions for solar Photovoltaic (PV) plants (robotics)

Student Teams:

  • InfyU Labs, IIT Madras: Chennai, using a combination of AI / ML and spectroscopy to do non-invasive rapid testing of agricultural produce (analytics)
  • Project Pinaka, BITS Pilani (Goa): Goa, Making fixed wing electric drones commercially viable by improving flight endurance (autonomous vehicles)
  • PS-1925, IIIT Allahabad, Allahabad: Pesticide spraying drone based service for farmers (autonomous vehicles)

Frequently Asked questions and answers

  1. What should we choose as our region?
    If you are a student graduating this year, choose the region in which your college is located. If your team has a group of graduating students from more than one college in more than one region, please choose a college in a region where most of your team goes to.

    If you are a startup, choose the region where you live and work.

  2. We are not sure our idea fits into one of the BUILD themes. Should we still apply?
    Yes! We encourage you to apply. Applying is simple and we are looking for teams that are passionate about solving real-life problems. Challenges that can be solved in innovative ways may be related to one of our themes.

  3. What are you looking for in our application?
    We are interested in two things – What problem are you trying to solve and how? Why should we work with your team? Since we will process a large number of applications, here are some tips to make your application stand out. Respect word limit, be clear and concise, and keep the below points handy:
    • Pitch how well you understand the problem
    • Tell us why you picked this problem, what needs to be done to solve the problem, one or two things that make your team members stand out, and what motivates you to solve the problem.
    • Don’t worry about how unique your idea is – we are interested more in your approach to solving a problem and are open to working with teams who are trying to solve the same problem or develop the same idea.

  4. Can we include links with our application?
    Yes. Links to videos or demo websites are welcome but please stick to the content relevant for your pitch and do not provide a lot of data that may be confusing and is difficult to filter.

  5. Is there any course fee?
    No. Application is free of cost and there are no hidden costs that will be charged for the BUILD course work. We will arrange for limited travel for teams selected for the BUILD bootcamp but you may have to pay for your day-to-day expenses.

  6. We are a startup but are not sure if we qualify for applying. Should we apply?
    We are looking to work with pre-seed / early-stage startups to develop their business skills. Typically, such startups are in conceptual stage and have no funding, no revenue, no minimum viable product solution (or only the outlines of one) and not much customer validation.

  7. If selected, what can I expect in terms of help for my team or startup?
    If your team is selected, we offer learning opportunities and a chance to connect with experienced professionals in the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem. We will provide you with learning resources to help you refine your business proposition and sharpen your investor pitches.

    We offer a chance for you to compete with your peers. We don’t offer a guaranteed number of winners nationally and we don’t offer any funding. However, if your team is good enough, you will have a chance to win INR 10,00,000/- as prize money that you are free to use as your team decides.

  8. What is my time commitment for BUILD?
    The boot-camp will run for around a week. The exact details may vary by region. You are expected to attend the complete duration of the boot-camp in-person. At the end of the boot-camp you will be invited to deliver your pitch to a jury in a process that may require a full day on-campus presence.

    If selected, some teams will travel to Bangalore for a two-day immersion program at the Boeing campus. You will also travel to Bangalore for one day to participate in Boeing Innovation Day for the final pitch competition at the Boeing campus in Bangalore.

    Beyond this, we expect that you will work on refining your pitches in your own time to compete effectively against your peers.

  9. We have more than one idea. Can we submit more than one application?
    No. We are looking to work with you, the team, and not on the idea. Submitting more than one application will not help you.

  10. Will I get a chance to work at Boeing or at our partner Incubators?
    No. BUILD is not associated with recruitment at Boeing or at any of our partners. However, BUILD offers you a chance to create your network and showcase your passion, enthusiasm, and business acumen.

  11. Are there more specific dates available for the events?
    Some of the dates will be specified as we get closer to the milestones. Refer to the timeline for the latest information.

  12. We have a great idea but are not technical. Can we still apply?
    Of course! We are looking to work with a diverse range of teams. But we do look for how well your team’s qualification fits your idea.