Deadline: 9-Jun-21
The National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) of Department of Science & Technology (DST), and Government of India (GOI) have announced a call for proposals for the National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) Seed Support Program to provide financial assistance to startups for proof of concept, prototype development, product trials, market entry and commercialization etc.
The key objective of the NIDHI- SEED SUPPORT (SS) PROGRAM is to ensure timely availability of the seed support to the deserving incubatee startups within an incubator, thereby enabling them to take their venture to the next level and facilitate their success in the marketplace. The scheme also enables the incubators to widen their pipeline of startups and also share the success of their startups which would also result in ensuring their long term operational sustainability.
The programme would work in line with the Startup India & Stand up India and focuses on building an innovation driven entrepreneurial ecosystem with an objective of national development through promoting problem solving innovative solutions with market potential to make India Atmanirbhar.
This umbrella programme NIDHI, aims at nurturing start-ups through scouting, supporting and scaling of innovations. The various departments and ministries of the central government, state governments, academic and R & D institutions, financial institutions, angel investors, venture capitalist, mentors and the private sector would be the key stakeholders of NIDHI.
Eligibility Criteria
- Incubators registered as not-for Profit entities which are approved or funded by the DST or any other central or state government (who have not previously benefited from NIDHI-SSS) are eligible to apply.
- Incubator should be operational for at least two years on the date of application to the scheme and having incubated at least 10 startups requiring seed support.
- Incubators which are funded by DST/other central or state government but are hosted by Private Institutions are also eligible to apply.
- Incubators must demonstrate a strong track record in incubation management and significant progress towards self-financing.
- Preference will be given to incubators having team members with basic domain knowledge and understanding in early stage startup financing.
- Any additional criteria as may be decided by the National Entrepreneurship Advisory Committee.
- The applicant startup must be a company registered in India, preferably be a DPIIT registered/applied startup and should have completed a minimum 3 months of association with the incubator in its resident or virtual incubation program.
- The applicant startup should have developed clarity on Unique Selling Preposition (USP) through customer validation and value proposition for its targeted customers.
- This support is not meant for Indian Subsidiaries of MNCs/foreign companies. Persons holding Overseas Citizens of India (OCI). Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) would be considered as Indian citizens for the purpose of this scheme.
- The shareholding by Indian promoters in the incubate startup should be at least 51%.
- Preference will be given to startups, who have not availed any funding from any Government of India /State Govt. body.
For more information, visit https://dst.gov.in/callforproposals/call-proposals-nidhi-seed-support-program-nidhi-ssp