Startups want more funds, tax relief once the new govt takes office

Lack of significant funding, heavy tax deductions and import duties and red tape are some of the biggest hurdles that startups want the new government to address once it comes into power after polls

Located in a corner of the Indian Institute of Science’s (IISc) verdant campus in Bengaluru is the Foundation for Science Innovation and Development (FSID). It is an incubator that aims to commercialise innovations with the potential to directly impact society. Inside, Padmini Sampath, wearing an orange and blue linen sari, is tinkering with a gadget, as big as a large smartphone.

Sampath is co-founder and chief executive officer of a little-known company, Green Collar Agritech Solutions. But it has developed an artificial intelligence-based crop grading solution that can determine key component ingredient percentages in commodity samples and provide the quality