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Department of Science & Technology, Government of India

National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) - Seed Support System

The Entrepreneurship Development Center ('Venture Center' ) is hosting a seed fund with a corpus of Rs 2 crore under the scheme "Seed Support System for Start-ups in Incubators" of the National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), Department of Science & Technology.

The Seed Support is for incubatees (physical resident units within STEP/TBI). The funds are meant for early stage funding for indigenous ideas and technologies requiring up-scaling and related work.

Incubatees of Venture Center are encouraged to contact Venture Center for further information.

Quantum of financial assistance to the incubated entrepreneur

  • Minimum: Rs. 2 lakh
  • Maximum: Rs. 50 lakhs

Broad Areas to be covered under the financial assistance include:

  • Product development
  • Testing and trials
  • Test Marketing
  • Mentoring
  • Professional Consultancy ( To attract Professors of institutions to work with small firms)
  • IPR issues
  • Man power for day to day operations
  • Any other area as deemed necessary and recommended by the Management Committee.

The Seed fund emphasizes:

  • Alignment with Venture Center's Focus areas
  • Product offerings (vs service offerings)
  • IP-rich enterprises
  • Strong knowledge components in enterprises

The seed fund is only for

  • Companies with minimum 51% ownership by Indian nationals
  • Companies ready to be incubated at Ventuer Center

Here is a list of make/break criteria for applicants:

  • There must be at-least one dedicated entrepreneur involved in the venture
  • There must be a formal business plan
  • The venture and the team must have high ethical & professional standards
  • The venture must have a strong technology/knowledge component
  • EHS requirements must be met
  • Key Proof-of-Concept must be demonstrated & must be reproducible
  • The venture must be registered as a private limited company, or must be in the process of registration
  • The amount of funding requested must be less than Rs 50 lakh
  • The entrepreneur(s) must be willing to share equity in the venture
  • The seed funds requested must be for activities such as product development, prototyping, scale-up, developing IP portfolio, test marketing, trials, certification, testing

Applications for the seed fund will be reviewed based on criteria such as (but not limited to):

  • Is amount of funding requested enough to reach critical milestone?
  • Does the venture have a clear, potentially significant/singular value proposition
  • How big/fast growing is the potential market?
  • Are target customers clearly identified?
  • How credible is the technology? (Is PoC credible in the opinion of subject-matter experts?)
  • Are there regulatory/certification/policy risks?
  • What are the sources of sustainable competitive advantage (eg. novelty, patentability, etc.)?
  • What is the quality of the business plan (revenue model, product roadmap, market segments, etc.)?

Typical terms for seed funding:

  • Investment mode: Equity ownership in a private limited company
  • Equity stake for seed fund: Up to 20%
  • Investment amount: Rs 2 lakh - 50 lakh
  • BoD representation: 1 BoD seat and 1 Board observer seat
  • Promoter/founder stakes: Vesting requirements
  • Reporting: Bi-annual presentation to seed committee + Quarterly/annual financials

Application form can be downloaded here.

Seed fund process for shortlisted applicants.

Business Plan Templates

Beneficiaries of DST Seed Support Scheme: