Cluster Partners

The ATL Sarthi Cluster in Bengaluru is currently associated with three types of Partners Organizations:

Nodal Agency / Institution

A Nodal Agency or Institution is an external organization that steers and supports the entire ATL Sarthi Cluster of schools. This role can be volunteered for by any state government body, private sector organization, NGO, Atal Incubation Centre (AIC), Atal Community Innovation Centre (ACIC), or Higher Educational Institution working with schools in their state or district.

Currently, REVA University is designated as the official Nodal Agency/Institution for the ATL Sarthi Cluster in Bengaluru.

Core Support Provided by the Nodal Agency:

Mentorship & Training: Sustained mentoring for students and specialized technical training.
Advanced Infrastructure: Access to high-tech laboratories and industrial-design inputs.
Development Pathways: Pilot environments, certification support, and IP/patent guidance.
Growth Opportunities: Startup or social-venture pathways and critical funding linkages.

Sarthi Cluster Schools may reach out to the Primary Point of Contact at the Nodal Agency/Institution (REVA University) to coordinate teacher capacity building and student upskilling programs.

Roles & Responsibilities of a Nodal Agency / Institution:

Conduct capacity building session for cluster ATLs on topics such as: Tinkering, innovation and entrepreneurship Improving participation of ATLs in the various competitions conducted by AIM.
Helping and handholding the schools with the reporting of schools on dashboards Motivating the ATL In-charges of the schools by conducting training activities for them.
Striving to conduct a mini-hackathon at cluster level in a period of 6 months after the clusters are formulated by creating a peer-to-peer network amongst these ATL schools.
Conduct a final showcase in collaboration with the schools where all the ATLs in the region participate.
Initiate monthly meetings with AIM to discuss progress and facilitate corrective actions as required and track the progress of clusters.
Submit an impact report after 7 months into the execution of ATL Sarthi (the format can be referred in the final impact report section below).
To make ATL Sarthi a successful initiative, the nodal institution should strive to make the cluster self-sustainable and prepare an exit plan after 8 months of engagement.

For more details, please refer to pages 2 and 3 of the ATL Sarthi Guidebook here.

Mentor India Academies

A Mentor India Academy is typically a higher educational institution or organization that provides dedicated mentoring support to ATL Sarthi Cluster Schools by engaging their own college students as mentors.

Currently, the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) has designated REVA University and the BMS Institute of Technology & Management (Yelahanka) as the official Mentor India Academies for ATL Sarthi Cluster Schools in Bengaluru.

As part of the Mentor India Academy initiative, student-mentors from REVA University (39 mentors) and BMSIT&M (27 mentors) are available to guide Sarthi school students in technical skills, problem-solving, prototyping, and innovation.

These mentoring sessions can be conducted in person at each school's Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL). By participating, the college students earn academic credit points that contribute toward their graduation requirements.

ATL Sarthi Cluster Schools in Bengaluru can:

Connect: Reach out to the Primary Point of Contact at REVA University or BMSIT&M to request mentoring and upskilling support for your ATL or STEM-lab students.
Schedule: Once student-mentors are mapped to your school, you can coordinate directly with them to finalize the dates and times for their sessions and visits.

Value-add Partners

Value-add Partner are external organisations that add capabilities beyond the regular ATL setup and helps student innovators take promising projects further—from early prototypes toward MVPs, pilots, IP protection, and possible commercialization.

Typical Value-add Partners in an ATL Sarthi Cluster can include:

Incubators and entrepreneurship-support organisations
IDEA Labs, maker spaces, and advanced technology labs
Mentor networks and domain experts
Industry partners and technology companies
Design, product-development, IP, patent, certification, and commercialization-support organisations
Higher-educational insitutions, academic and research institutions
NGOs, foundations, and innovation-focused organisations
Organisations that can offer pilot campuses or innovation sandboxes