Where India's next infrastructure founders take off.
RUNWAY is WA CAPITAL's residential incubation programme for students and early-stage startups building companies in our nine sectors — with sector labs, mentors, Spanish co-founders, investors and scholarships for those who cannot pay.
Why RUNWAY exists
Most incubators are built for software. Founders building a biogas plant, an automated car park or a warehouse robot need something else: physical labs, plant visits, regulatory know-how and patient capital.
RUNWAY brings participants together to live and work in Belagavi for three to six months. They learn from engineers, financiers and founders, test ideas with real customers, and finish in front of investors. Because RUNWAY is part of WA CAPITAL, the strongest teams can move straight on to raising capital with us.
RUNWAY at a glance
- Where: Belagavi, Karnataka
- Format: residential, 12 or 24 weeks
- Who: students, graduates and early startups (18+)
- Sectors: the nine WA CAPITAL sectors
- Partners: Mondragon Team Academy; WAFOUNDATION for scholarships
- 2027: pilot programme with an academic partner in Belagavi
- 2028: first full residential cohorts
Three tracks
LAUNCHPAD · 12 weeks
For final-year students, recent graduates and researchers. Discover a real problem in a sector lab, build a prototype, interview customers and leave with a team and an incorporation-ready plan. The best teams are fast-tracked to TAKEOFF.
TAKEOFF · 24 weeks
For incorporated pre-seed and seed startups. Run a pilot with a paying or committed customer, prove your unit economics, map your regulatory path and prepare your fund-raise, ending at Demo Day.
ALTITUDE · 12 months
Non-residential follow-on support: monthly reviews, introductions to customers and help turning pilots into contracts and conversations into investment.
Seven labs, real industry next door
Automation Lab
ASRS, warehouse robotics and automated-parking mechatronics.
Bio-Energy Lab
Compressed-biogas pilots on press mud and agricultural residue.
Agri-Tech Lab
Hydroponic and aeroponic systems, climate control and crop trials.
Energy & Nuclear Supply-Chain Lab
Precision manufacturing and quality systems. No radioactive material on site.
Urban, Mobility & PropTech Lab
Parking demand, transport data, smart-city and construction technology.
Attractions & Experience Lab
Ride engineering, simulation, AR/VR, ticketing and crowd analytics.
Capital Lab
Financial models, capital stacks, PPP bids and investor communication — run by WA CAPITAL.
Build with co-founders from Mondragon.
Each year about 120 students of Mondragon Team Academy's LEINN degree, with their team coaches, spend time in India in two waves — before and after New Year. RUNWAY's calendar is built around them.
- RUNWAY International Weeks in Belagavi, alongside Indian participants.
- Indo-Spanish Venture Sprints on live challenges from WA CAPITAL's member companies.
- Demo Days in December and March, with Spanish students and coaches in the room.
- The Team Academy method in RUNWAY's curriculum, taught with Mondragon's coaches.
Why Belagavi
On the Pune–Bengaluru corridor and close to Goa. Home to Visvesvaraya Technological University, an aerospace precision-manufacturing cluster and one of Karnataka's largest sugarcane belts — so prototypes can be machined, and biogas pilots fed, close to the labs.
Talent decides who joins. Not money.
Admission is on merit and need-blind. Candidates who cannot afford the fee can apply for a RUNWAY Scholarship, funded through CSR partners mobilised by WAFOUNDATION.
| LAUNCHPAD (students) | TAKEOFF (startups) | |
|---|---|---|
| Programme fee (2028 cohorts, plus GST) | ₹1,20,000 for 12 weeks, including board and lodging | ₹2,40,000 per team for 24 weeks, including residency for two founders — or ₹1,20,000 plus 3% equity |
| Scholarships | Full or partial fee plus a ₹5,000 monthly stipend; we aim to fund 40–50% of places | Partial fee scholarships for founders from economically weaker backgrounds |
| Equity | None | 3% to 5% under the equity option, only after incorporation |
| Support | Labs, mentors, and a route into TAKEOFF | Pre-seed introductions, lab and cloud credits, pilot customers and Demo Day |
Scholarship decisions are made by an independent committee convened with WAFOUNDATION, on a means test. Scholars pay exactly the same published fee as everyone else; the scholarship pays it for them. Companies interested in funding RUNWAY Scholarships through CSR can contact us.
Register for the 2027 pilot
The RUNWAY pilot runs in Belagavi in late 2027 with our academic partner and the first wave of Mondragon Team Academy students. Register your interest to receive the call for applications.