Boeing Invites Applications for Fifth Edition of BUILD Program; Last Date to Apply April 4, 2026

Boeing University Innovation Leadership Development (BUILD) has rapidly emerged as a leading national platform turning university-led and early-stage startup innovation into scalable business solutions.

Boeing has announced opening of applications for fifth edition of its Boeing University Innovation Leadership Development (BUILD) program for 2025–26.

Launched in 2019, BUILD enables graduates and early-stage startup entrepreneurs from across India to pitch and develop their ideas by connecting them with incubators, investors, and Boeing’s industry expertise – helping concepts mature into market-ready solutions.

As per a release issued by Boeing, by bringing together academia, industry, incubators, and investors within a structured and integrated platform, BUILD helps de-risk early innovation, strengthens startup readiness, and accelerates the journey from concept to deployment.

Over five editions, program has supported thousands of graduates and startups nationwide, accelerating ideas and solutions in the India’s startup ecosystem across aerospace, defence, technology, sustainability and social impact sectors.

Salil Gupte, president, Boeing India and South Asia said, “India’s startup community brings bold thinking and deep technical capability. Over the past five years, BUILD has nurtured this capability – giving wings to ideas, offering mentorship, industry expertise, and opportunity to scale up – to thousands of students, and enabled concepts to mature into capabilities. We deeply value the partnership of our incubator ecosystem, which has been integral to this journey of nurturing innovators and entrepreneurs.”

Boeing continues to partner with seven incubators, namely, Society for Innovation – IIT Mumbai, Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer – IIT Delhi, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center – IIT Gandhinagar, IIT Madras – Incubation Cell, Society for Innovation and Development – IISC Bengaluru, T-Hub Hyderabad, and Technology Business Incubator – KIIT Bhubaneshwar, to organize BUILD in India.

Applicants are now invited to submit ideas in the fields of aerospace and defense, technology, social impact and sustainability.

The shortlisted teams will compete at a regional-level boot camp, and the finalists will pitch their ideas to subject-matter experts on Boeing Immersion Day and BUILD finals, to be held in July 2026.

The winners will get a grant of INR 10 lakh each to support the development of their ideas. Boeing mentors and industry experts will interact and closely work with the finalists to refine and suggest ways to convert these ideas into viable business offerings.