A.
Build an HoI Idea.
Explore the ideas listed on the HoI platform. Each comes with a research brief, a competitive landscape summary, and a phased execution roadmap. If one resonates, apply to take it forward as a Fellow.
The Founders Fellowship
A real venture, while you’re still in college.
The HoI Founders Fellowship places exceptional students from India’s premier institutions at the centre of real, funded ventures — with capital behind them, a roadmap to execute against, and a path to equity when they graduate.
This is not an internship. This is not a hackathon. This is not a case competition.
01 — The Fellowship
A structured program, with skin in the game.
Fellows are embedded in an active venture, working on a real problem, with real capital behind it. HoI manages the operational side. You drive product, customer, and growth thinking. We make decisions together.
The Fellowship is open to students at IITs, NITs, and other premier institutions defined by HoI. You don’t need prior startup experience. We don’t filter by branch or discipline. We filter for mindset.
Open to
- IIT students
- NIT students
- Other premier institutions
- Second year and above (preferred)
We look for
- Intellectual curiosity
- Commercial awareness
- Thinking under ambiguity
- The urge to build, not just to have built
02 — Two ways to apply
Take one of ours forward. Or bring your own in.
Both tracks lead to the same place: a Fellow embedded in a venture, with capital, a roadmap, and a path to equity. In both, IP is held by House of Ideas — ensuring continuity regardless of who builds it at any given stage.
B.
Bring your own problem.
Already working on something but limited by structure, capital, or scale? Apply to bring your venture into the HoI portfolio. We’ll evaluate fit, and if selected, will co-shape the direction and provide the resources to move forward.
03 — What Fellows receive
Money, mentorship, a plan, and a team behind you.
The infrastructure to actually build.
- Monthly stipend (amount communicated at offer)
- Direct access to the HoI team for decisions
- Step-by-step execution roadmap
- Operational infrastructure — HoI runs ops
- Exposure to real capital deployment
- Association with the HoI portfolio and network
A path back, on terms agreed upfront.
- Option to return to the venture full-time
- Pre-agreed equity stake
- A defined role in the next phase of growth
- Continuity of work begun in college
04 — What it’s not
Three things the Fellowship isn’t — in plain terms.
Not part-time
Fellows are expected to treat this as their primary building endeavour during the fellowship period — not a side commitment.
Not a job
It’s not a shortcut to a placement or a position. It is a path to building something with your name on it.
Not open-ended
Fellows have a defined scope and a roadmap to execute against. The structure is the point.
05 — Selection
Three stages. No presentations.
We want to understand how you think — not how you pitch. The process is structured, focused, and respectful of your time.
Stage 01
Application
A structured written application. Questions are specific to the idea or track you’ve applied for. We want your thinking, not a CV summary.
Stage 02
Problem Deep-Dive
A focused conversation with the HoI team. We go deep on the idea, the market, and your approach. No slides required — bring your thinking.
Stage 03
Decision
HoI communicates a go/no-go within a defined window. If selected, you receive a Fellowship Agreement covering stipend, IP, equity, and post-college option.
06 — The Post-College Option
The right to return — not the obligation. Equity is held in reserve until you graduate.
When a Fellow graduates, they have the option to walk back into the venture as a full-time operator — with equity already negotiated, history already built, and context already in place. If a Fellow chooses not to return, HoI continues the venture with a new operator and the equity option lapses per the Fellowship Agreement.
- Agreed At the time of selection. No surprises later.
- Held In reserve for the Fellow until graduation. Documented in the Fellowship Agreement.
- Activated Upon the Fellow’s formal return to the venture as a full-time operator.
07 — A note on the filter
This is a deliberate choice, not an oversight. The filter is how HoI maintains its talent standard consistently.
The Founders Fellowship is built around a specific talent standard. Working only with students from India’s top institutions is how HoI maintains that standard consistently across every venture in the portfolio.
This filter is not a judgement on talent elsewhere. It is a positioning decision — one that allows HoI to build a recognisable, trusted brand around the quality of who it works with.
Apply
You think you’d be a good Fellow. Let’s talk.
Applications are open on a rolling basis. Specific cohorts open and close throughout the year — book a conversation when you’re ready.