New Delhi [India], February 3 (ANI): Boeing on Tuesday announced the opening of applications for the fifth edition of its Boeing University Innovation Leadership Development (BUILD) program for 2025-26, reinforcing its long-standing support for India's student innovators and early-stage startups, the release said.

Launched in 2019, BUILD enables graduates and early-stage startup entrepreneurs 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. By bringing together academia, industry, incubators, and investors within a structured, integrated platform, BUILD helps de-risk early-stage innovation, strengthens startup readiness, and accelerates the journey from concept to deployment.

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

As per the release, Bill McSherry, vice president, State Advocacy and Global Engagement, Boeing, said, 'For over a century Boeing has led global aerospace innovation, turning bold ideas into solutions that improve lives. We understand what it takes to turn an idea into a solution and the passion behind it. With BUILD's proven track record in helping shape students' and entrepreneurs' dreams and ambitions, we are proud to support the next leap this program is set to take.'

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 Centre, IIT Gandhinagar, IIT Madras - Incubation Cell, Society for Innovation and Development - IISC Bengaluru, T-Hub Hyderabad, and Technology Business Incubator - KIIT Bhubaneshwar, to organise BUILD in India. Applicants are now invited to submit ideas in the fields of aerospace and defence, 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. (ANI)