Keystone runs six tracks, each closed by a gate.
Six months from late January, in Bengaluru. Every startup moves through the same six tracks; each has a named owner and a stage gate. Continuation depends on the gates, not the calendar.
Expert mentors
Sales, design-for-manufacturing, electronics and algorithm specialists who have shipped regulated hardware. Each startup is matched with two mentors for the full six months plus specialists on call.
- Gate
- Mentor sign-off on the requirements document and risk file by end of month 1.
- You bring
- The prototype, test data, and the list of things you do not yet know.
Hiring support
Build your founding technical team. Keystone helps define the roles the capability-gap answers in your application point to, sources candidates from the BITS network and partner companies, and sits in on interviews.
- Gate
- Core roles for the build phase filled or contracted by end of month 2.
Quality gating
We set up stage-gated engineering and a quality management system from design controls onward, aligned to ISO 13485, AS9100 or ISO 9001. The design history file is audit-ready when a lab or a buyer asks.
- Gate
- Design freeze with a complete DHF and verification plan by end of month 3.
Regulatory and test labs
Consultants for your pathway (CDSCO, DGQA and MIL-STD, IN-SPACe and ECSS, BIS and EMC) and accredited labs such as TÜV for pre-compliance and formal testing. Keystone negotiates lab slots and rates for the cohort.
- Gate
- Formal test reports and the submission file by end of month 5.
Capital and go-to-market
Price discovery with real buyers, fundraising preparation, and introductions to the people who procure in your category: hospital purchase committees, DRDO and service HQs, ISRO and IN-SPACe, industrial buyers.
- Gate
- A priced offer in front of at least one named buyer, and a data room, by end of month 6.
Scalable manufacturing · the goal
Preferential contract-manufacturing rates and connects, for example Kaynes, with your design reviewed for their line before handover. A pilot batch is built on the manufacturer's line inside the programme.
- Gate
- Pilot batch built and inspected; costed BOM and unit cost at volume agreed with the manufacturer.
What the six months look like.
Indicative phasing; the gates above are what matter.
The terms, stated once.
All IP created by the startup stays with the startup. Keystone, BITS Pilani Startup Hub and programme partners take no IP.
Continuation depends on passing the engineering and quality gates listed above. A team that misses a gate gets one defined remediation window.
At least one founder is a BITS Pilani alumnus or alumna with a meaningful equity stake. At least one founder is full-time and present in Bengaluru for gate reviews and workshops.