In April 2021, Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog, in collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched AIM-PRIME (Program for Researchers on Innovation, Market-Readiness and Entrepreneurship). Implemented by the Venture Center, the PRIME programme was aimed at promoting science-based, deep technology ideas to market, through training and guidance over a period of 12 months.
The programme included several lectures and hands-on sessions on various topics related to the lab-to-market journey. These lectures provide diverse and at times contradictory advice on several aspects of the journey. Just as the blind men feeling around an elephant described it as anything from a fan to a rope to a snake, perspectives differ based on the type of start-ups and the stage of the entrepreneurial journey most familiar to the speaker.
AIM-PRIME Playbook is synthesised based on the knowledge shared by these experts as well as additional content contributed by the chief editor. It aims to be a comprehensive resource for academic researchers, entrepreneurs and incubators involved in building science-based enterprises from lab-to-market. Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog and Venture Center are grateful to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for extending their support to this initiative.