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Government earmarks Rs 126 crore for Startup India Seed Fund

Synopsis

The Startup India Seed Fund, which was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month, will become operational on April 1, 2021.

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Illustration: Rahul Awasthi
Bengaluru: The government has allocated Rs 126 crore towards the Startup India Seed Fund for the financial year 2021-22.

The fund aims to provide financial assistance to early stage startups in sectors such as water management, biotechnology and defence, which do not usually attract institutional venture capital funding.

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The fund, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month, will become operational on April 1 and is looking to disburse Rs 945 crore over a period of five years. It will back eligible startups and incubators that will be evaluated by an Experts Advisory Committee (EAC) constituted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

The Startup India Seed Fund Scheme, which was notified last week, will look to back DPIIT-registered startups that are less than two years old at the time of their application.

The selected incubators will be able to disburse Rs 20 lakh for validation of proof of concept or prototype development, and up to Rs 50 lakh for market entry and commercialization.

The government has said that it will look to back startups especially in sectors such as social impact, waste management, water management, financial inclusion, education, agriculture, food processing, biotechnology, healthcare, energy, mobility, defence, space, railways, oil and gas, and textiles.

“We are trying to create a startup system which is based on the mantra — of the youth, by the youth, for the youth,” Modi had said in his address at ‘Prarambh: Startup India International Summit’ last month. “The aim for the next five years should be that our startups become global giants.”

Under the scheme, the government will provide grants of up to Rs 5 crore to eligible incubators in three or more instalments, based on the milestones they are able to achieve.

Incubators assisted by the state or central government that are at least two years old will be eligible, while those not supported by the government will need to be at least three years old.