New Delhi: The IT Ministry announced on Thursday the second cohort of its startup accelerator, in which 125 early-stage firms selected and supported by potential accelerators will be awarded funding and mentorship.
The deadline for submitting applications under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s (MeitY) Startup Accelerators for Product Innovation, Development, and Growth (SAMRIDH) is October 2.
In the first batch, 22 accelerators from 12 states were chosen through open calls for ideas. Following a multi-level screening procedure, these accelerators selected 5-10 startups in each of the following areas: health-tech, ed-tech, agri-tech, consumer-tech, fin-tech, software as a service (SaaS), and sustainability.
The second cohort is part of the government’s 100-day agenda to select and support 125 startups through potential accelerators so as to achieve the target of nurturing 300 startups.
MeitY said it is working to grow India’s software product industry under the National Policy on Software Products (NPSP)-2019.
Launched in August 2021, the SAMRIDH programme aims to support 300 software product startups with a Rs 99 crore investment over four years.
The scheme is being implemented by MeitY Start-up Hub (MSH), Digital India Corporation (DIC).
“SAMRIDH is being implemented through potential and established accelerators across India which provide services like making products market fit, business plan, investor connect and international expansion to startups plus matching funding up to Rs 40 lakh by MeitY,” said the government.
According to the ministry, the domestic software product industry, including startups, is being supported through various programmes such as Centre of Excellences, Technological Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs (TIDE) programme, Next Generation Incubation Scheme (NGIS), ICT Grand Challenges, Gen-Next Support for Innovative Startups (GENESIS), etc.
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–IANS
