On April 19, 2021, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal launched the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS).
- Objective – It aims to provide Financial Assistance to startups for Proof of Concept, Prototype development, product trials, market entry and commercialization.
- Duration – 4 years, starting 2021-22.
- It aims to build an Robust Startup ecosystem in Tier-2 & Tier-3 towns of India which are suffering due to inadequate funding.
- The SISFS is expected to benefit around 3,600 startups and boost the startup ecosystem.
| Component | Details |
|---|---|
| Corpus Fund | INR 945 Crore |
| Monitoring & Executing Agency | Experts Advisory Committee (EAC) created by DPIIT (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade) |
| Grants | ● INR 5 Crore to eligible Incubators selected by EAC. ● INR 20 Lakhs to startups for validation of Proof of Concept, or prototype development, or product trials. ● Investment of INR 50 Lakh for startups for market entry, commercialization, or scaling up through convertible debentures or debt-linked instruments. |
Key Points
i.The scheme was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 16, 2021 during ‘Prarambh: StartupIndia International Summit’ which was held to commemorate the 5th Anniversary of Startup India initiative.
ii.SISFS will Secure seed funding, Inspire innovation, Support transformative ideas, Facilitate implementation and Start Startup revolution in India.
iii.The scheme also aims to promote virtual incubation for startups by enabling 300 incubators to support startups from all over India.
Startups in India
- In India there are over 41, 000 startups.
- In 2020, around 11 startups turned unicorns.There are over 30 Unicorn startups in India.
- Unicorn Startup -a private company with a valuation over USD 1 billion.
Initiatives to Promote Startups
The Government of India has introduced several initiatives to develop the Startup ecosystem in India. They are
- Startup Innovation Challenges
- National Startup Awards
- Ranking of States as per Startup ecosystem
- SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) Startup Forum
- Prarambh : Startup India International Summit
Recent Related News:
i.On 6th October, 2020, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal released the results of the First Edition of National Startup Awards 2020 in a virtual ceremony.
ii.February 2, 2021, DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce & Industry gave approval for setting up of Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) with a Corpus of INR 945 crores for the period 2021-25.
About Ministry of Commerce and Industry:
Union Minister– Piyush Vedprakash Goyal (Rajya Sabha, Maharashtra)
Minister of State (MoS)– Hardeep Singh Puri (Rajya Sabha, Uttar Pradesh), Som Parkash (Lok Sabha – Hoshiarpur, Punjab)
