Three steps between the call on 7 November 2026 and the official announcement on 7 January 2027.
Up to five startups are selected. Every step reads from the two scored sections of your application: the idea, the technology's stage with evidence, and how the team operates. People decide; tools only prepare the material.
Written application
Twelve sections, saved as you go. Long answers are capped at 250 words. Two sections are scored separately and carry the most weight.
- The idea: the problem, the product, your insight, who uses, pays and decides, alternatives including imports, evidence of demand, why now, the business, the biggest unknown, your first 30 days.
- Tech stage: core technology, TRL, what physically exists, measured evidence against a benchmark, independent validation, IP, the three biggest technical risks, critical parts, facilities, the gate you expect to pass by month 6.
- Attach a deck, a test report if you have one, and a 90-second video of the prototype working. Production quality is not assessed.
Voice interview
About 25 minutes, spoken, with live subtitles. An AI interviewer asks questions built from your application; the selection panel reads the transcript and decides. It follows up on what you say and moves on when it has what it needs. The technical lead and the business lead are interviewed separately.
- It probes how the team learns and executes: what changed after feedback, what you were wrong about, something difficult you delivered, a time you committed before you had the data.
- It takes a sceptical read of your evidence and technical-risk answers and asks you to defend them.
- You can ask it to clarify a question, or to tidy up the wording of what you just said; the cleaned version is read back to you and only confirmed text is kept.
- The transcript and a trait-by-trait summary go to the panel. The interview does not decide anything on its own.
Panel
Mentors and programme partners meet the founding team. The panel reads the application, the interview summary and the attachments, and asks what it still needs to know. Selected startups are announced officially on 7 January 2027; the cohort starts later that month.
The path from the call to the first gate.
What an applicant goes through, in order, with what each step produces.
Steps I–III are the selection; IV is the public announcement; V is the programme itself, run on the six tracks described in the plan. Nothing is decided by a tool: the interview produces material for the panel, and the panel decides.
Questions teams ask
None of our founders is a BITS alumnus. Can we apply?
No. At least one founder must be a BITS Pilani alumnus or alumna and hold a meaningful equity stake in the startup.
We are not incorporated yet. Can we apply?
Yes. The form asks for registration details only where they exist. Incorporation is expected before the cohort starts.
Our technology is early. Should we apply?
Yes, if something exists and has been measured. There is no TRL threshold. We select on the slope: how fast the prototype, the evidence and the team have changed, and how feedback has been taken and acted on.
Do you take equity or IP?
No IP: everything the startup creates stays with the startup. Whether any programme fee or equity applies is stated in the offer letter to selected teams.
Terms used on this site
TRL: technology readiness level, 1–9. CDSCO: India's medical-device regulator. DGQA: Directorate General of Quality Assurance, defence. IN-SPACe: India's space-sector authorisation body. MIL-STD and ECSS: defence and European space test standards. BIS: Bureau of Indian Standards. EMC: electromagnetic compatibility. QMS: quality management system. DHF: design history file. DFM: design for manufacturing. BOM: bill of materials. CM: contract manufacturer. LOI: letter of intent. DPIIT: the government's startup-recognition body. TÜV and Kaynes: an accredited test-lab group and a contract manufacturer we work with; named as examples, not guarantees.
Can we be in another accelerator at the same time?
Tell us in the application. Conflicting in-person commitments are the usual problem, not the programme itself.
Is there a stipend or grant?
Keystone provides mentors, hiring help, lab and manufacturing access and introductions. Any financial support is stated in the offer letter. The application asks what support you would draw on so the programme can plan for it.
Who reads our application?
The Keystone selection panel, mentors, and programme partners, for selection and programme administration only.