Government provides funding for Startups & Small Businesses in India
Link for image: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vEwah25ItZdZPu9m_7i-FhU4VxSrhaad/view?usp=sharing
In today's trying
times, every other business is struggling for its survival. Additionally, small
businesses and startups are witnessing the adverse effects of the pandemic. To
boost the startup growth, the Government of India has implemented several
measures. The list of such schemes and initiatives is quite extensive and varies
based on at which stage the startup is currently at. This effort showcases the
importance of why the Government is keen on helping them grow.
Today, India is the
3rd largest startup ecosystem in the world and is gradually on its mission to
build a robust startup ecosystem. In order to promote and support
entrepreneurs, the Government has created a Ministry (Department of Science
& Technology) dedicated to helping new businesses. The idea is to create an
environment so that they remain sustainable and competitive.
Startups and MSMEs
are the foundation on which the Government’s Atmanirbhar mission and Make In
India vision will succeed – Generating more employment, increasing exports,
improving the standard of living for millions of Indians, and making India
strong globally.
Several schemes and
initiatives support small businesses and startups, such as loans, grants, seed
fund, to name a few. The Government is not only promoting these schemes to help
the present group of startups benefit from them but also motivating the budding
entrepreneurs, startups, and students from all domains, who tend to be
independent and lead the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat forward.
Research Innovation Incubation Design Laboratories (riidl), a
startup incubator and an innovation center at the Somaiya Vidyavihar
University, supported by Somaiya Vidyavihar, NSTEDB, DST & BIRAC,
Government of India and MSInS, Government of Maharashtra is one of the
disbursing organizations by the Government of India to give funds & grants
to support startups in India.
riidl has incubated over 131 startups & facilitated
the creation of 600+ full-time job opportunities with a community of over 5600
makers/innovators while the total valuation of startups is over INR 1160 Cr.
Knowing what
funding schemes and grants are available is the first step to taking advantage
of the many funding programs that promote innovation in India. Here, we’ve
highlighted 3 valuable Government funding schemes you should know about as an
entrepreneur:
- NIDHI Seed Support
System (NIDHI SSS):
NIDHI
SSS provides financial assistance to potential startups with promising ideas,
innovations, and technologies. This would enable some of these incubatee
startups with innovative ideas/technologies to graduate to a level where they
will be able to raise investments from angel/Venture capitalists or they will
reach a position to seek loans from commercial banks/financial institutions.
Through
NIDHI SSS, a deserving startup gets a maximum financial assistance of upto INR
1 Crore from DST as grants-in-aid for the seed support. The sole objective of the NIDHI SSS
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.
In the
past, riidl.org
has supported 4 startups viz. MicroDegree, Pocketly, VectorX and Doubt Buddy
with a total funding of INR 2 Crore under NIDHI SSS.
Highlights
of the fund support:
-
Avail equity based funding of INR 25 Lakhs to INR 1 Crore
per Startup
-
Access to riidl ecosystem
-
Business & Technical Mentoring
- Access to startup
acceleration program
Last date to apply is 30th April 2022. For complete
eligibility: http://riidl.org/NidhiSSS/Eligibility-Criteria
Application Link: http://riidl.org/programs/nidhi_sss
The
Selection Committee evaluating the shortlisted applicants for disbursement of
NIDHI SSS funds to startups includes:
Link to the
photo: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ElCOSDNRG9Sm1S4WaH_uGsHAYmqEV8Dk/view?usp=sharing
- NIDHI PRAYAS:
DST-NIDHI’s Promoting and Accelerating Young and Aspiring
technology entrepreneurs (PRAYAS) is specifically to support young innovators
turn their ideas into Proof of Concept. This support shall allow the innovators
to try their ideas without fear of failure, hence allowing them to reach a
stage where they have a ready product and are willing to approach incubators
for commercialization.
In the
last 2 years, riidl.org
has supported 11 startups with a total grant funding of INR 100 Lakhs under
NIDHI PRAYAS scheme.
Highlights
of the fund support:
-
Avail grant upto INR 10 Lakhs per Startup
-
Access to riidl ecosystem
-
Business & Technical Mentoring
- Access to startup
acceleration program
Last date to apply is 6th May 2022. For complete
eligibility: riidl.org/programs/nidhi_prayas
Application Link: riidl.org/programs/nidhi_prayas
- NIDHI EIR:
National
Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) Entrepreneurs-in-
Residence (EIR) Programme is one of the programs introduced under NIDHI to
inspire the best talents to be entrepreneurs, to minimize the risk involved in
pursuing startups, and to partially set off their opportunity costs of high
paying jobs. Graduate students will be provided funding to take up
entrepreneurship through a fellowship.
In the
last 2 years, riidl.org
has supported 10 entrepreneurs with a total grant funding of INR 36 Lakhs under
NIDHI EIR scheme.
Highlights
of the fund support:
-
Avail fellowship of INR 30,000 per month for a duration of
12 months
-
Access to riidl ecosystem
-
Business & Technical Mentoring
- Access to startup
acceleration program
Last date to apply is 6th May 2022. For complete
eligibility: riidl.org/programs/nidhi_eir
Application Link: https://riidl.org/NidhiEIR
Gaurang Shetty, Chief Innovation
Catalyst, riidl
says, “Most entrepreneurs struggle
to raise angel or seed funding during the early stage and these grants from
NIDHI is like a boon for entrepreneurs in the ecosystem. The seed support is positioned to
act as a bridge between the development stage of the startup and
commercialisation stage. For NIDHI SSS, we are typically looking for early
revenue stage tech startups which have a market ready product. We at riidl want
to support startups with the NIDHI SSS funding, NIDHI PRAYAS and NIDHI EIR
grants while additionally provide access to business mentoring, technical
mentoring, prototyping support, early customer access support, virtual
incubation, networking & outreach opportunities, and much more.”
Whether
you need help putting together the financials for a grant application – or
someone to guide you with development of your product & creating the
Business plan – we have experience working with a wide range of companies at
riidl.
The country now
seems to be heading towards the golden era of entrepreneurship, where if things
go as planned, India may host as many successful startups as the USA or any
other leading nation by 2030.
