Established in 2003 and inaugurated by the Honorable Minister for Science and Technology of the Government of India, Mr. Kapil Sibal in 2005, the VIT- Technology Business Incubator (VITTBI) is a joint initiative between VIT University and the Department of Science & Technology (DST) of the Goverment of India. VITTBI's mandate is to promote technology-based business ventures and provide nurturing support to entrepreneurs. To date, VITTBI has supported about 20 ventures, 8 of which have graduated out of the incubator. Furthermore, VITTBI has provided seed funding worth approx. USD 78,000 to 7 innovative projects and helped more than 10 innovators raise innovation grants worth approx. USD 88,000 in the past two years. 

VITTBI is a member of infoDev's Global Network of Business Incubators and received an infoDev grant for developing its business incubator activities. VITTBI works with the "Seed Fund program" of Technology Development Board (Technopreneur Promotion Program, TePP) of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India, as well as the Lemelson Recognition and Mentoring Program (L-RAMP) of the Lemelson Foundation, USA. It has strong linkages with other agencies such as the Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), Ministry of Micro, Medium and Small Enterprises (MSME), Government of India, The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) and other agencies that support innovation and entrepreneurship. 

In order to recognize and reward successful work done in the  area of techno-entrepreneurship development through the promotion of knowledge-driven and technology based start-up ventures, the National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development  Board (NSTEDB), Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, has  instituted a National Award for Technology Business Incubators. The honor is traditionally awarded to organizations such as Science and Technology Entrepreneur Parks,  Technology Parks, Technology Business Incubators, Innovation Centres, and Software Technology Parks.

NSTEDB annually invites applications from these institutions and a committee selects the best candidate based on parameters such as overall performance in the past three years, business and specialized support service package offered by the organization, project portfolio, financial sustainability, training programs, special services and consultancy assignments.

Ensuing a rigorous selection process among many competitive candidates, VITTBI was chosen for the 2008 National Award for Technology Business Incubators. The award carries a cash prize of approx. USD 2000 and a trophy. The award will be  presented to VITTBI during Technology Day celebrations on May 11, 2009 in New Delhi.