Rs 611 cr allocated to incubators under startup seed fund scheme so far

The government has allocated Rs 611 crore to incubators and out of that, Rs 61 crore was released to startups under the seed fund scheme so far, an official said on Tuesday.

In April 2021, the government launched the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) with a corpus of Rs 945 crore.

The corpus is divided over the next four years (till 2025) for providing seed funding to eligible startups through eligible incubators across India.

The fund aims to provide financial assistance to startups for proof of concept, prototype development, product trials, market entry, and commercialisation.

The scheme has completed two years and it is helping in promoting innovation, joint secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Manmeet Nanda told reporters here.

She said that so far 165 incubators have been selected under the scheme and Rs 611 crore has been approved for them.

"Over 1,000 startups are benefitted from the scheme so far," she said, adding if required the department would seek more funds.

"We will be able to completely utilise the Rs 945 crore fund," she said.

She also said that the DPIIT is undertaking a third party assessment of 'Startup India Seed Fund Scheme' to see its impact on the ground.