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Govt Launches Rs 945 Crore Scheme To Financially Support Early-Stage Startups
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Minister of Railways, Piyush Goyal. (Virendra Singh Gosain/Hindustan Times via GettyImages)
In a boost for the booming Indian startup sector, the government on Monday (19 April) formally unveiled a Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) to handhold and financially support early-stage startups across 300 incubation centres in the country, reports Livemint.
Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal unveiled the scheme, which was announced three months ago. A sum of Rs 945 crore has been allocated for the scheme.
The government expects the fund to benefit as many as 3,600 startups and give a fillip to the startup ecosystem, especially in the second and third-tier cities.
The scheme aims to provide financial assistance to startups for proof of concept, prototype development, product trials, market entry and commericalisation.
Under the scheme, startups shall be offered grants of up to Rs 20 lakh for validation of proof of concept, prototype development or product trials.
Furthermore, investments of up to Rs 50 lakh shall be provided to startups for market entry, commercialisation or scaling up through convertible debentures or debt-linked instruments.
It should be noted that the scheme has been launched within three months of the announcement by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi.
