Not just a manager. A builder, a leader, a co-founder. A UGC-recognised Executive MBA from Bharatiya Engineering Science & Technology Innovation University — delivered exclusively by Ireu School for Startups, designed for the Ireu Startup Launchpad cohort and ambitious professionals who want the credential, the ecosystem, and the real-world startup experience — all in 12 intensive months.
BEST Innovation University (BESTIU) is a UGC-recognised, state private university established under the Andhra Pradesh Private Universities Act 2019, headquartered in Gownivaripalli, Andhra Pradesh — built around the vision of a world-class social-impact institution where learning is accessible, innovators are groomed, and ideas are incubated, in alignment with NSDC and NCVET national skill-development guidelines.
BEST Innovation University awards the degree. Ireu designs, delivers, and assesses the program. This is the model that produces real practitioners — not theorists with degrees. The curriculum is built on Ireu's 35,000+ hours of copyrighted industry content, delivered by a faculty of unicorn founders, IISc researchers, banking veterans, and domain practitioners.
Four consecutive trimesters — each building on the last, each producing a concrete deliverable, and each aligned to the Ireu Startup Launchpad journey happening in parallel. Theory and practice are not separate. They are the same semester.
BESTIU's Board of Studies has approved a credit structure where real-world entrepreneurial activities — pitching to investors, building a product, attending Demo Days, working with mentors — count as formal academic credits toward the degree. The startup you build is the classroom.
| Component | Credits | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Core Subjects (4 Trimesters × 5 subjects) | 48 | 48% |
| Elective Specialisation Subjects | 20 | 20% |
| Experiential Learning Credits (practical activity) | 22 | 22% |
| Capstone Project / Startup Thesis | 10 | 10% |
| Total Credits for EMBA Award | 100 | 100% |
BESTIU formally recognises the following Ireu activities as academic experiential learning credits — approved by the Academic Council, each assessed and signed off by both Ireu and BESTIU faculty.
Total Experiential Credits: 22 of 100. All credits formally approved by BESTIU's Board of Studies and Academic Council, assessed jointly by Ireu faculty coordinators and BESTIU examiners.
If you want a degree that looks good on a wall — there are 500 business schools for that. If you want a degree that looks good on a cap table — this is it.
Every Ireu Startup Launchpad student receives the EMBA as part of their 15-month program — no separate admission. Your startup journey is your curriculum, your Demo Days are your exams, your incorporated company is your thesis.
5–15 years in finance, technology, marketing, operations or a domain — with an idea you've been sitting on. You don't need another theoretical MBA; you need a framework, the Ireu mentor network, and the BESTIU credential to anchor your transition.
A FinTech analyst who saw the gap, a PropTech engineer who knows what to build, an EdTech manager who understands the buyer. You have the domain expertise — this EMBA gives you the startup operating system and the credential to leap credibly.
International professionals who want to establish, validate or scale a venture in India — using Bangalore's ecosystem, Ireu's IIT Madras and IISc access, and the BESTIU EMBA as their Indian academic anchor, with regulatory orientation and investor introductions.
Dedicated women-founder mentorship sessions, a Women Entrepreneurship track at Ireu's AI & Startup Summit, and women-focused investor introductions through Ireu Finance — solutions for the unique challenges built into the curriculum.
Senior managers and innovation leads who want to run internal ventures, build new business units, or develop corporate-entrepreneurship capabilities — with a formal credential and the Corporate Innovation & Intrapreneurship module built for the profile.
BESTIU's Academic Council has set a clear, accessible eligibility framework — designed to include ambitious, experienced professionals rather than exclude them on past academics alone. Admissions are rolling, and the 2026 cohort is now open.
Submit your application at ireu.education — what you want to build, your educational background, your founder intent. 15–20 minutes. No lengthy essays.
A 30-minute video call with an Ireu mentor — not an interview, a conversation. We want to understand your goals, your idea, and your readiness to commit 12 months.
Ireu issues your offer within 5 working days of the conversation. The Finance team begins assisting with loan paperwork immediately on request.
Formal registration, student ID and enrollment are processed with BESTIU via Ireu's team — enrolment number, admission card and university email issued from BESTIU's campus.
The cohort begins with orientation week at WeWork, Manyata Tech Park — your first day alongside your co-founders, IIT Madras mentors, and the full Ireu faculty network.
Specialisation: Startup & Entrepreneurship. UGC-recognised · AP private university. 12 months · 4 trimesters · 100 credits (incl. 22 experiential). Examined by BESTIU faculty + Ireu practitioner assessors. Partnership signed 5 July 2025.
"From Idea to Startup — Strategy, Innovation & Venture Launch." Issued by IISc · Centre for Continuing Education, for Launchpad cohort students. IISc faculty + Ireu practitioners. Combined with the EMBA → a dual credential.
Nirmaan + Pravartak incubation via signed MoUs — pre-incubation milestones, structured sessions, mentor access and government-scheme channels. Three credentials emerge from one 15-month journey.
Every graduate receives a physical certificate printed on archival parchment, signed by BESTIU's authorised signatory, Ireu's CEO, and bearing both institutional seals. This is the UGC-recognised credential that follows your name for life.
Conferred at the Bangalore campus ceremony in Month 12, with degree of Executive MBA, specialisation Startup & Entrepreneurship, 100 credits, year of award 2026.
Archival parchment with embossed seals and a unique enrollment number — plus a blockchain-verified digital copy.
Signed by BESTIU + Ireu founders with a dual institutional seal. UGC-recognised, no expiry, permanently held on BESTIU records.
BESTIU is governed by an experienced academic and administrative leadership committed to building a world-class institution where entrepreneurship is not a subject, but a way of thinking. The School of Innovation & Entrepreneurship oversees the EMBA in partnership with Ireu.
Provides academic leadership and strategic direction for BESTIU and chairs the Academic Council that approved the experiential-learning credit framework.
The institutional counterpart to Ireu's academic team — overseeing curriculum compliance, examination schemes, student records and the BESTIU LMS, and co-signing all degree certificates.
Manages all student registrations, enrollment numbers, admission cards and ID issuance. Academic records and certificates are maintained under UGC statutory guidelines.
Statutory bodies under the AP Private Universities Act 2019 that approve programme structures, credit frameworks and examination schemes — and which formally approved the 22-credit experiential component.
Direct BESTIU enquiries: Gownivaripalli, Gorantla, Andhra Pradesh — 515231. Admissions and registrations are processed jointly by Ireu and BESTIU — reach Ireu first at contactus@ireugroup.com or +91 91486 14938.
A UGC-recognised Executive MBA from a state university. Legally valid, globally credible — and the only EMBA in India delivered entirely by a startup school.
22 of your 100 credits come from real startup activities — pitching, building MVPs, Demo Days, IIT Madras milestones. The only Indian EMBA where building a company is formally academic work.
Launchpad EMBA students get IIT Madras Pravartak and Nirmaan incubation access — the deepest technology incubation infrastructure in India. No other EMBA offers this.
Launchpad students also earn the IISc Advanced Certificate — a three-credential bundle: BESTIU EMBA + IISc Certification + IIT Madras track record. Unmatched in Indian startup education.
Exclusive access to Simplilearn's full professional stack — AI, ML, data science, cloud, digital marketing, product management — throughout your 12 months.
The best startups from EMBA cohorts are eligible for consideration from the proposed Ireu Startup Fund (₹250 Cr AIF Cat II), with warm introductions to Ireu Finance's angel and VC network.
Launchpad EMBA students pitch in Bangalore (M12), Mumbai (M13), Singapore (M14) and Dubai (M15) — a live fundraising circuit, not a study tour.
Media exposure through Ireu's 50+ annual events, including the India AI & Startup Summit with Times of India. Your startup gets press before it has a Series A.
Every subject is taught by people actively doing it — unicorn founders, IISc researchers, former VPs at Barclays, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank.
The founder's inner game — resilience, leadership under pressure, conflict resolution — developed through Art of Living's i-Lead and formally credited as experiential learning.
Ireu's Finance team assists with loans through nationalised banks and NBFCs (HDFC Credila, Avanse, InCred). The full fee can be loan-funded, with EMIs starting post-graduation.
If you graduate and aren't ready to launch independently, Ireu Group offers employment across its six verticals — the 12-month investment always leads to a strong outcome.
Every significant activity in the Ireu ecosystem is formally recognised as academic work — assessed, graded and credited toward your EMBA by BESTIU examiners. The most experiential business degree in India.
50+ customer interviews, market-gap analysis, problem–solution fit validation, lean-canvas iterations and ICP development — documented and assessed.
A working MVP built and deployed, user-feedback sessions, an iteration log with version control, UX results and documented tech architecture.
A Bangalore or Mumbai investor pitch, written panel feedback, a submitted deck version, term-sheet literacy and documented follow-up.
A Singapore or Dubai pitch, cross-border investor meeting notes, an international market-entry analysis and a reflection report assessed by BESTIU.
Structured engagement with Nirmaan or Pravartak, a milestone certificate, mentor logs, an incubation roadmap and a government-scheme application.
Minimum 12 documented mentor sessions, a Founder-Talk log, industry site visits, mentor feedback forms and a development reflection journal.
Full i-Lead completion, a leadership self-assessment, a mindfulness log, a resilience journal and a team-dynamics case study.
Minimum 5 Simplilearn completions across the 12 months, an applied AI use-case lab and a report on AI tools used in your startup.
Every faculty member has done what they teach. This is the non-negotiable design principle of Ireu School for Startups.
The program is anchored by Ireu's founders — Thejasvi's 20+ years across Barclays, JP Morgan, UBS, Deutsche Bank, ANZ and Citibank, and Ramya's Goldman Sachs institutional expertise and VTU partnership architecture. Entrepreneurship, financial literacy, corporate innovation, scaling.
The entire Trimester III fundraising and investor-readiness curriculum is taught by LVX Ventures practitioners with live deal experience — fundraising pathways, term-sheet negotiation, cap-table management and post-funding investor relations.
IISc Bangalore faculty contribute to the Advanced Certificate and provide research-grade mentorship on deep-tech product validation, innovation methodology, technology commercialisation and IP strategy.
i-Lead faculty deliver mindfulness, leadership and resilience woven into the weekly fabric of all 12 months — leadership under pressure, emotional resilience, team dynamics and conflict resolution.
Ireu's 100+ mentors contribute structured guest sessions — founders who built ₹1,000 Cr+ companies, CXOs of global MNCs, active VCs and angels, and domain experts across FinTech, PropTech, AI and EdTech.
BESTIU designs and approves all assessment schemes; appointed examiners conduct continuous assessments, evaluate project reports and maintain UGC-compliant records — academic quality assurance and degree issuance.
For Ireu Startup Launchpad students, the EMBA is included within the ₹15 Lakh Launchpad investment — no additional fee. For standalone applicants, fees are as below.
Multiple paths. Zero financial barriers.
Rolling admissions, reviewed within 5 working days. If you're ready to spend 12 months building something that matters — and want a UGC-recognised EMBA to show for it — this is the program. The application takes 20 minutes.
