DISHA 3.0 — Developing Innovations for Successful Harnessing and Adoption — pitch deck format & template

What this deck has to do

Funding on offer

₹15 lakh – ₹1.5 crore · up to 3% equity

Aim for

8–12 slides · 10-minute slot

Focus areas it funds

Deep-Tech · Digital Healthcare · Medical Devices · Ai-Ml · Iot-Robotics · Diagnostics

• Funding up to ₹1.5 crore (equity-based grant)
• Focus on Cyber-Physical Systems in Digital Healthcare
• Expert mentorship and IP support
• Access to CHARAK DT platform for product trials
• Open to faculty, students, and DPIIT-recognized startups
• 20% reservation for SC-led projects

Where your deck actually goes

Your deck is not read once. These are the stages DISHA 3.0 puts it through, and each has a different reader — which is why a deck that clears the first screen can still fail at the committee.

1. 1

   Proposal SubmissionYou

   Submit your concept note, presentation, and budget via the online application form.

2. 2

   Initial Internal EvaluationProgramme

   Applications undergo peer review by faculty and technical experts of IITI DRISHTI CPS Foundation.

3. 3

   Technical PresentationYou

   Deliver a presentation to internal and external domain experts, followed by Q&A.

4. 4

   External Investment Committee ReviewProgramme

   Projects are reviewed by the EIC through a presentation and Q&A session.

The deck is not the only thing you submit

DISHA 3.0 asks for these alongside the deck. Founders routinely finish the deck and discover the rest the night before the deadline — start them in parallel, and keep the numbers consistent across all of them, because reviewers do cross-check the deck against the budget.

• Concept note
• Budget / financial plan
• Online application form

Slide-by-slide: what to put in a DISHA 3.0 deck

1. 1.Title & one-line positioning

   Company name, a single sentence a non-specialist understands, and your contact details. Reviewers read dozens of decks in a sitting — make the category obvious in the first five seconds.

   Name the focus area you fit — this program funds Deep-Tech, Digital Healthcare, Medical Devices. A deck that doesn't visibly sit in one of those is screened out before anyone reads slide two.

2. 2.Problem

   Who has this problem, how often, and what it costs them today. Quantify it with a source rather than an adjective.

   This program's screening explicitly weighs market size, so anchor the problem in an addressable number you can defend, not a global market headline.

3. 3.Solution & product

   What you built, shown rather than described — a screenshot, a photo of the device, a short demo frame. Keep the mechanism legible to a non-specialist reviewer.

   A working prototype is part of this program's eligibility, so show the actual artefact on this slide. A rendering or mock-up reads as not-yet-eligible.

4. 4.Technology & differentiation

   What is genuinely hard about this, and why a well-funded competitor cannot copy it in a quarter. IP, data advantage, or a technical moat.

   This program routes shortlisted decks through peer review by technical experts, so this slide is read by someone who knows the field. Write it for a specialist — vagueness here is what fails at that stage.

5. 5.Traction & validation

   Whatever you actually have: pilots, letters of intent, users, revenue, clinical or field validation. Real small numbers beat impressive vague ones.

6. 6.Market & go-to-market

   Your addressable market, built bottom-up, and the first channel you will actually use to reach it.

7. 7.Team

   Why this team, for this problem. Name the relevant domain depth and the gaps you know you have.

   This program is open to faculty, students and clinicians as well as companies — make the applicant's institutional affiliation explicit here, since it determines which eligibility track you are assessed under.

8. 8.Use of funds & the ask

   The amount you are asking for, broken into the milestones it buys. Tie every line to something the reviewer can check later.

   This program funds ₹15 lakh – ₹1.5 crore, on up to 3% equity. Ask inside that band and show the milestones it buys — an ask above the published ceiling signals you have not read the guidelines.

9. 9.Milestones & roadmap

   What the next 12–18 months look like, with dated, checkable milestones rather than themes.

What gets decks rejected here

Ignoring the published format

DISHA 3.0 publishes a template, and reviewers score against the sections they asked for. Restructuring it into your investor deck makes their job harder and reads as though you did not open the file. Fill in their format; keep your own deck for investors.

An ask that ignores the published band

This programme funds ₹15 lakh – ₹1.5 crore. An ask above that ceiling is one of the fastest screening-out signals there is, because it says you did not read the guidelines — and an ask with no milestone breakdown is nearly as bad, since the committee cannot check what the money buys.

A deck written for the wrong reader

Government and institutional programmes are not VCs. They are assessing feasibility, national or sectoral relevance and your ability to execute a funded plan, not just upside. A deck that leads with hockey-stick projections and thin technical substance performs worse here than one that leads with the problem, the evidence and a credible plan.

Numbers that disagree with each other

The figure on your ask slide, the total in your budget sheet and the amount on the application form must match exactly. Reviewers cross-check them, and a mismatch reads as carelessness on the one document where carelessness is least forgivable.

Leaving eligibility to inference

Screening is a filtering exercise before it is a judging one. State your fit with Deep-Tech, Digital Healthcare, Medical Devices explicitly and early rather than making a reviewer work it out from your product description.

Frequently asked questions

Is there an official pitch deck format for DISHA 3.0?

Yes. DISHA 3.0 publishes its own pitch deck template, which you can download on this page with a free Startup Grants India account. Where a program publishes a format, use it as-is — reviewers score against the sections they asked for, and a restructured deck makes their job harder.

How many slides should a DISHA 3.0 pitch deck be?

If the program's own template sets a slide count, follow it exactly. Where it does not, 10–12 slides is the working norm for an early-stage application deck — enough to cover problem, solution, technology, traction, team and the ask without padding.

How much funding can I ask for in a DISHA 3.0 deck?

DISHA 3.0 funds ₹15 lakh – ₹1.5 crore, up to 3% equity. Your ask slide should sit inside that band and break the amount into milestones. An ask above the published ceiling is one of the fastest ways to get screened out.

What does DISHA 3.0 look for in an application?

The program focuses on Deep-Tech, Digital Healthcare, Medical Devices, Ai-Ml, Iot-Robotics, Diagnostics. Your deck should make the fit with one of those areas explicit on the first slide rather than leaving the reviewer to infer it.

How is a DISHA 3.0 pitch deck evaluated?

The selection process for DISHA 3.0 is rigorous, involving multiple stages of evaluation by internal and external experts. Initial entries are shortlisted based on their alignment with the program's focus areas, innovation potential, estimated market size, and funding requirements. Shortlisted applications then undergo a peer review by faculty members and technical experts from the DRISHTI CPS Fou…

Do I need to pay to download the template?

No. The template is free — you only need a free Startup Grants India account so we can keep the download available and tell you when this program's next cycle opens.