Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP)

Match the programme to your stage and location

C-CAMP's programmes are not interchangeable, and several are open only to Karnataka-registered startups:

• Karnataka-registered, need seed funding and mentorship: Karnataka Startup Advancement Programme (K-SAP).
• Karnataka-registered and women-led: WE-Bio, a two-phase incubation-then-acceleration track.
• Life sciences, healthcare or agritech with a working prototype, anywhere in India: the DST-NIDHI-CCAMP Accelerator.
• Ready for a year-long, deeper commitment and willing to give up equity: the C-CAMP Startup Advancement Program (C-SAP).
• A bio-entrepreneurship idea or early venture wanting visibility and mentorship: the National Bio Entrepreneurship Competition.
• Digital health: the C-CAMP-MeitY TIDE 2.0 programme.
• Bio-based climate or sustainability solution: the Centre of Excellence for Sustainability & Climate Action.

How applications work

Each programme runs its own dated application window and its own form or link rather than a single central portal, so check the specific programme page for whether a call is currently open. Some links (for example WE-Bio's) route through a shortened URL rather than the ccamp.res.in domain — that is normal for C-CAMP, not a sign of a fake link.

How selection works

Most cohort programmes follow a similar sequence: an initial administrative screening to check basic eligibility and completeness, followed by evaluation on scientific strength, commercialisation potential, value proposition, go-to-market strategy, scalability and sustainability by a panel of experts. Shortlisted applicants then present to a selection committee that typically includes representatives from academia, government, industry, investors and C-CAMP's own management, who finalise the cohort.

What reviewers look for

• Fit with the programme's domain. C-CAMP's programmes are sector-specific (life sciences, biotech, agritech, digital health, climate), so a proposal outside that scope is unlikely to clear the first screen.
• Registration and eligibility basics. Karnataka-only programmes check state registration; the DST-NIDHI Accelerator checks Indian registration and majority Indian ownership.
• Evidence matching the programme's stage. The DST-NIDHI Accelerator expects at least a minimum viable product or early proof-of-concept; C-SAP is built for early-stage ventures ready to commit a year and equity.
• A clear go-to-market and scalability story, which comes up repeatedly across programme pages as an evaluation criterion alongside scientific merit.

The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms, or C-CAMP, is a Bengaluru life sciences hub conceptualised by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, in 2009. It sits on the NCBS-TIFR campus in Bengaluru as part of the Bangalore Life Sciences Cluster (BLiSC), alongside the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) and the Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine (inStem).

How programmes work

C-CAMP does not run one single programme. It runs a wide portfolio, most delivered with a government or philanthropic partner, and most open to applications only during a stated window rather than year-round. Karnataka Startup Advancement Programme (K-SAP) offers Karnataka-focused life sciences startups lateral-entry seed funding alongside mentorship and Demo Day exposure, with its second cohort's window in September 2026. The DST-NIDHI-CCAMP Accelerator is a structured, cohort-based mentorship programme for life sciences, healthcare and agritech startups with an early working product, selecting 15 startups per cohort for dedicated mentoring and a closing Demo Day. WE-Bio supports women-led Karnataka startups in life sciences through a two-phase incubation-then-acceleration journey, in partnership with the Government of Karnataka. The C-CAMP Startup Advancement Program (C-SAP) is a year-long, equity-based programme offering deep mentorship, funding assistance and partnership access. The National Bio Entrepreneurship Competition, run through the BIRAC Regional Entrepreneurship Centre (BREC) with BIRAC, is C-CAMP's flagship annual bio-entrepreneurship competition, alongside boot camps, an investor-meet series and awareness workshops. Beyond these, C-CAMP runs the C-CAMP-MeitY TIDE 2.0 programme for digital health startups, and national initiatives such as the Indigenisation of Diagnostics (InDx) and Indigenisation of Biologics (InBx) programmes, which work with Indian MSMEs and researchers on manufacturing capability rather than running application-based startup cohorts in the usual sense. The Bio for Climate & Sustainability initiative, and its Centre of Excellence for Sustainability & Climate Action, backs bio-based climate solutions in agriculture and healthcare, while the Social Alliance for Accelerating Transformative & High-impact Innovations (SAATHI), supported by the Gates Foundation, selects a nationwide cohort of deeptech and grassroots innovations each year. Because programmes change or close between cohorts, check each programme's own page for a current call before you apply.

Who can apply

Eligibility depends on the programme. K-SAP and WE-Bio require the startup to be registered in Karnataka; WE-Bio further requires the venture to be women-led. The DST-NIDHI-CCAMP Accelerator asks for a startup registered in India, majority Indian-owned, working in life sciences, healthcare or agritech, with at least a working prototype. Sector focus varies too: biotech, biopharma, medtech, diagnostics and agritech are the recurring themes across programmes, alongside digital health for the TIDE 2.0 and Samridh-linked initiatives, and climate-linked biotechnology for the sustainability programmes.

Facilities

C-CAMP's bio-incubator is a 44,000 sq ft facility, built with support from BIRAC's BioNEST scheme, NITI Aayog's Atal Innovation Mission (Established Incubation Centre track) and the Karnataka IT/BT/S&T department. It offers a plug-and-play model: fully equipped, dedicated lab space with basic benchtop equipment, access to shared technology platforms, and clean rooms and culture rooms for tissue-culture work. It includes BSL1 and BSL2 biosafety facilities for risk-group work, uncommon among Indian incubators. Beyond resident lab space, the technology platforms, including next-generation genomics, mass spectrometry, NMR, flow cytometry, imaging, drug discovery support and a MedTech rapid-prototyping facility for microfluidic diagnostic devices, are also available on a service basis to startups that do not take incubation space.

Scale

C-CAMP's own pages give different figures for how many startups it has supported, and they do not agree with each other: one page says it has directly funded, mentored or incubated 450 startups and is associated with more than 2,000 more; another says it has supported close to 200 startups as resident incubatees; two older pages put the total at just over 100. Read these as different counting methods on different dates rather than a single settled number. C-CAMP has received the National Startup Award from Startup India and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade in January 2022, and the Department of Science and Technology's National Award for Technology Business Incubator in January 2021.

Who runs it

C-CAMP is led by Dr. Taslimarif Saiyed as CEO and Director. Prof. Ramaswamy S., a co-founder of C-CAMP, served as its first CEO from 2009 to 2016 and remains on its Board of Directors, alongside fellow co-founder Prof. Satyajit Mayor, Shrikumar Suryanarayan, Manoj Kumar (founder of Social Alpha) and Prof. LS Shashidhara, Director of NCBS-TIFR.

Locations

C-CAMP is based at GKVK Post, Bellary Road, Bengaluru 560065, Karnataka, on the NCBS-TIFR campus that forms the Bangalore Life Sciences Cluster.