Incubator onboarding checklist: a founder's first month

Selection ends with a yes. Onboarding is where that yes becomes a signed agreement, a set of numbers to measure against and a founder who knows whom to call.

This checklist covers a founder's first month in an incubator. It is written for programme managers in India, and it ties each step to the scheme rules that will later ask about it.

What should an incubator finish in a founder's first 30 days?

Six things: signed agreements, compliance checks, a baseline data snapshot, dated milestones, a mentor assignment and access to labs and services. Each one leaves a record in the startup's file. Finish them in the first month and the rest of the programme runs on facts rather than on memory.

Week	Task	Record in the file
1	Sign the incubation agreement and confidentiality terms	Signed copies, dated
1	Collect company documents for compliance checks	Checklist with gaps marked
1	Take the baseline data snapshot	Snapshot sheet, signed off by the founder
2	Agree milestones and evidence for each	Milestone schedule, attached to the agreement
2	Assign a lead mentor and hold the first session	Mentor log entry
2 to 3	Open access to labs, space and service providers	Access list, safety induction record
4	First monthly review	Review notes, actions

Which agreements should be signed first?

Sign the incubation agreement first, with confidentiality terms in it or alongside it. If seed money is involved, the funding terms and milestones go into a signed legal agreement before any money moves. Then confirm that every founder has assigned their work to the company, because nothing else in the programme is safe until the company owns its product.

The Seed Fund Scheme guidelines say the incubator shall execute a legal agreement with each selected startup before the first instalment, with milestones clearly set out. AIM's Atal Incubation Centre guidelines and DST's NIDHI-TBI guidelines both say the residency period and exit policy may be defined in the agreement.

Our clause-by-clause guide to what an incubation agreement should include covers the terms. For founders' code and designs, the guide to IP assignment for startups in India explains why a written assignment matters.

What compliance checks belong in onboarding?

Check the company, not the pitch: incorporation, DPIIT recognition, cap table against the register of members, GST where it applies, ROC filings and a bank account in the company's own name. You are not running diligence. You are finding the gaps early, while they are cheap to fix, and writing the fixes into the first milestones.

Scheme rules add specific checks. For Seed Fund support, Indian promoters must hold at least 51% at the time of application, the startup should not have received more than Rs 10 lakh from other government schemes, and funds go into the company's bank account. AIM's seed support also asks for at least 51% held by Indian promoters or host institutions.

Late filings are common in young companies. The ROC compliance calendar for startups gives founders the dates to work to.

What goes into the baseline data snapshot?

The baseline snapshot records where the startup stands on day one, using the same fields you will report on later: product stage, revenue, team size, funding raised by type, customers or pilots, IP filed and cash runway. Have the founder sign it off. Every later report is measured against this sheet, so it cannot be rebuilt afterwards.

Use the fields funders already ask for. The Seed Fund Scheme tells incubators to track, for every startup it funds, progress through proof of concept, prototype, product, field trials and market launch, plus loan, angel or VC funding raised, jobs created and turnover. AIM asks centres to update their KPIs every month.

Record the snapshot in the founder's own numbers, with a note of where each figure came from: bank statement, invoices, payroll or the founder's estimate. An estimate is fine on day one, as long as it is marked as one. When the first monthly review replaces it with a documented figure, you can see which numbers moved and which were simply corrected.

If you did not record where a startup started, you cannot show how far it came.

How should milestones be set in the first month?

Agree a short list of milestones, each with a date, an owner and the evidence that proves it. Tie any money to them. Write them so a stranger could check them: "first paid pilot signed" rather than "market traction". Attach the schedule to the agreement, so the startup and the incubator read the same version.

The Seed Fund Scheme pays grants in milestone-based instalments, and its own examples are prototype development, product testing and a product ready for market launch. AIM's seed guidance links releases to milestones in two or three tranches, and says future releases may be stopped if a startup misses them. How you then follow progress month by month is covered in how incubators track founder progress.

How should mentors be assigned during onboarding?

Assign one lead mentor per startup, chosen for the gap the milestones expose, and hold the first session in week two. Add specialists later for legal, finance or sector questions. Log every session with its date, length and the actions agreed, because funders count mentoring hours and you can only count what was written down.

When the Seed Fund Scheme selects incubators, one of its measures is the average mentoring hours given per startup per month. The incubator mentor network guide covers recruiting and logging in detail.

How do founders get access to labs and services?

Give each founder a written access list in the first fortnight: space, lab and equipment booking, safety induction, and the legal, accounting and IP service providers they can use. A founder who does not know what is on offer will not use it, and unused services do not show up in anyone's results.

AIM's guidelines list the support a centre is expected to provide, including access to labs and maker spaces; legal, accounting and IP services; and networking with mentors, vendors and investors. The Seed Fund Scheme adds that if a startup does not use the incubator's physical space, it should still be offered every other resource and service.

Questions

What should an incubator onboarding checklist include?

Six items: signed agreements, compliance checks on the company, a baseline data snapshot, dated milestones, a mentor assignment and access to labs and services. Each item should leave a record in the startup's file, because funders and auditors will ask for it later.

What documents should a startup give an incubator at onboarding?

Usually the certificate of incorporation, DPIIT recognition if it has one, the cap table and register of members, GST registration where it applies, the company's bank details and signed IP assignments from founders. Seed Fund applicants also need proof of at least 51% Indian promoter shareholding.

When should an incubator set milestones for a new startup?

In the first month, and in writing, as part of the incubation agreement. Under the Seed Fund Scheme the agreement with milestones must be signed before the first instalment, and later instalments are released only when earlier milestones are met.

Sources: DPIIT, Guidelines for Startup India Seed Fund Scheme · Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, Guidelines for Setting up of Atal Incubation Centres, Nov 2023 · DST, NIDHI Technology Business Incubator Guidelines and Proforma

For more on running an incubator in India, read the MyStartupValley blog or see MyStartupValley for incubators.