A central platform for student founders, run by MIT INDIA.

Edugild exists to back the next generation of founders emerging from India's campuses. We bring capital, mentorship, incubation, and investor access into one high-conviction ecosystem where ambitious ideas evolve into scalable companies. From the first pitch to long-term growth, Edugild creates the stage where student founders build with credibility, move with speed, and turn potential into enterprise.

Revered Prof
(Dr.) Vishwanath D Karad

Founder & Chief Patron – MAEER's MIT Group of Institutions

A visionary educationist and institution-builder, he has dedicated his life to nurturing generations of learners with knowledge, character, purpose and peace. His enduring vision inspires MIT-WPU to pursue academic excellence rooted in values, spirituality and global responsibility, empowering students to shape meaningful futures and contribute to a more harmonious world.

Dr. Sunil Karad

Executive Director, Treasurer & Trustee MIT Group of Institutions, Pune, India

A progressive education leader and institution-builder, he brings together strategic insight, global academic exposure, and a deep commitment to innovation-led learning. With a strong focus on digital transformation, entrepreneurship, and future-ready education, his work strengthens institutions, empowers learners, and expands access to meaningful, technology-enabled education for communities at scale.

The team building Edugild across MIT India.

Kedar Kulkarni

Chief Operating Officer

With experience across venture acceleration, incubation and entrepreneurship ecosystems, Kedar brings a scale-oriented approach to building and operating venture platforms. Having worked with 4,000+ startups and scaled EDGE to support 100+ ventures annually, his work spans venture selection, growth frameworks and operational systems. At Edugild, he is driving a unified operating model across MIT India campuses, connecting academic innovation with venture execution and stronger pathways to capital.

Unit Leadership

The people running each unit's innovation cell.

Edugild is one platform, but each unit has its own leadership and incubation team that you'll work with on the ground.

Saylee Bidwai

CEO, MITAOE-EDF (Entrepreneurial Development Foundation)

Abhijit Netke

Assistant Professor at MIT Arts, Commerce & Science College (MITACSC)

Shailesh Bhokare

Asst. Director, I&I, Avantika University

Dr. Debmalya Bhattacharya

Pro Vice Chancellor, MIT University of Meghalaya

Prof. Dr. Rajesh Raut

Head, Centre for Research, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, MIT School of Distance Education, Pune

Why we exist

India has no shortage of ideas. It has a shortage of first believers.

Most student founders fail for the same three reasons: they never got a first cheque, they never got matched to a mentor who had actually shipped something, and they never got a room to work out of Edugild is built to remove all three.

We are a program, a network, and an incubation stack - and we are open to every student in India with a credible idea, not only students inside the MIT India network.

Our Principles

How we work

Conviction over credentials

We back people who have thought hard about a problem, not people who went to the "right" school.

Capital with care

A cheque is the easy part. We stay close long after it, weekly reviews, warm intros, hard questions.

Open, by design

Edugild is MIT INDIA's platform, but the door is open to any student in India. Your college does not decide your ceiling.

Build in public

We publish essays, numbers and post-mortems so the next cohort can move faster than the last one.

Partners, not gatekeepers

Our institutions provide labs, faculty and infrastructure, not permission slips.

Long time horizons

We judge a cohort on what it becomes years down the line, not on a demo day headline.

Ready?

We'd rather read your application than answer any more questions.

Tell us about your idea. We'll get back in under 10 working days.

Apply to Edugild

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