InnovatED Frequently Asked Questions

The selection process has two main stages:

• The written application stage (along with a video cover letter)
• The virtual selection stage (applicable to those who get shortlisted in the written stage)

‍There is an additional phone interview stage for candidates whose written application needs further clarification.

Social-impact organisations with a not-for-profit, a for-profit model, or a hybrid model that have completed at least one pilot can apply to InnovatED. You are eligible if your organisation fundamentally shifts life outcomes for India's children from low-income families.

Teach For India is currently entering a new strategic phase where we have identified and are committed to focusing our work across three significant areas within education:

• Transformational schools and direct work with children
• Enablers of transformational outcomes
• Policy and governance for educational equity

Yes, having applied earlier has no bearing on your application this year. Every application is looked at as a fresh one.

Yes, you can apply. We will be incubating individual entrepreneurs in any case, not their teams. However, given how challenging it is to run an organisation alone, we recommend you consider getting a co-founder or a core team at some point.

Yes, you do not need to be an incorporated organisation to apply. You only need a prototype (tangible proof of your work on the ground, underpinned by solid research). It just needs to be more than simply an idea in your head.

If it is a funding programme which does not require you to spend significant time attending events/components of the other programme, it should work out fine. If you're already part of another part-time/full-time incubation program, we might have to understand your availability before deciding on your candidature. In any case, we would love to hear a disclosure about the same during the application process so we can take a call on a case-specific basis.

We are looking for early-stage entrepreneurs with more than just an idea (you must have tested the idea in some form at least, possibly through a prototype or pilot). You need to be a Teach For India Alumnus / Alumna (Fellowship / Staff), willing to work full-time and working on a problem that directly relates to educational inequity.

The team can definitely have people from outside Teach For India (diversity has its advantages). However, the incubated entrepreneur needs to be a Teach For India Alumnus or Alumna.

Yes. To be incubated, you must be working full-time in your early-stage organisation. If you are currently employed, you should be ready to leave your existing engagement and work on your organisation full-time to be eligible for InnovatED.

InnovatED is an 9 month full-time engagement. If selected, you must commit to being present for all parts of it - in-person convenings, monthly cohort calls, or any other aspect of the engagement. Entrepreneurs are required to commit to 100% attendance across components of InnovatED.

InnovatED has three primary modes of engagement: physical, virtual, and digital: the physical (in-person) component includes a series of national innovation boot camps and optional visits from the coach or the InnovatED team; the virtual component includes monthly cohort calls and webinars, and the digital feature includes micro-learning videos and our in-house learning platform: InnovatED Insights. Beyond this, InnovatED provides a stipend and coaching support to entrepreneurs. 

InnovatED is a decentralised incubation platform and most interactions, except for the boot camps, happen online. Based on the conditions closer to the event dates, we will take a call about events happening online/offline.

As an Alumnus or Alumna of InnovatED, you will graduate into the larger collective of InnovatED entrepreneurs you can lean on for learning, collaboration and support. In addition, the InnovatED team will strive to support you on a case-by-case basis to the best of our ability.

Based on past figures, the stipend amount will likely be around INR 50,000 per month (with 10% TDS). 

Entrepreneurs will have access to an Innovation Fund corpus of 8.1L INR. Based on their Innovation Proposals, this fund will be disbursed to 3-4 select cohort entrepreneurs. In addition, there will be a Demo Day with donors and InnovatED partners during the national Summit for you to access funding, forward connects, and feedback.

InnovatED primarily aims at individual entrepreneurs (you must nominate one person from your early-stage team). We will support that individual to develop the necessary capacity, knowledge and connections to help the rest of the team and the organisation going forward.

No, InnovatED is not a physical incubator but a decentralised incubation platform. You will work from your respective location and might need to travel only for the national innovation boot camps.

InnovatED takes care of the travel and accommodation for its incubatees for all boot camps it hosts.

Yes, Launchpad entrepreneurs can apply to InnovatED. However, we do not have any pre-booked seats for Launchpad entrepreneurs.

Suppose a Teach For India Alumni who has not been incubated by InnovatED Launchpad is a co-founder. In that case, we encourage them to apply on behalf of your organisation.

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Launchpad entrepreneurs will have to go through the same application stages to make the application process fair for all applicants.

InnovatED is an 9 months incubation platform versus the 6-7 weeks pre-incubation platform for InnovatED Launchpad. Additional support components are provided to InnovatED entrepreneurs, like the monthly stipend, in-person boot camps, and site visits.

The boot camps are designed to cater to the entrepreneurs' needs at that point. The topics covered in a boot camp will be based on the identified needs and challenges of the cohort entrepreneurs.

Refer to The InnovatED Story or follow us on our social media handles (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter) and Youtube channel to learn more about InnovatED and the incubated entrepreneurs.

You can reach out to us for further information at innovated@teachforindia.org . Alternatively, you can download our Brochure