New Delhi, Aug. 5 -- Earlier this year, more than 500 women applied for eight beds in a Bengaluru house. They were competing for a place at Nova, a fully sponsored, seven-day female-founder residency where participants live, build and ship products under one roof. Across town in Koramangala, Bengaluru's start-up heartland, the builder lab, LocalHost, ran a 75-day, full-time build sprint for 30 founders. They were provided with workspaces, mentorship, a hardware lab, a media studio and access to grants and investors. What the applicants were queuing for, in both cases, was a room worth being in.

Hacker houses are shared working spaces where technologists and entrepreneurs build alongside one another. Start-up residencies are their more st...