Goa Startup Mission

The Seed Capital Scheme is the only scheme on the cell's incentive list that pays money up front. Every other scheme pays back costs a startup has already paid. The grant is meant to help a certified startup build a Minimum Viable Product, and the cell decides the amount.

The cell states that the benefit is not an entitlement. It selects up to 100 startups each year, so a valid certificate does not guarantee a grant.

What you get

• A one-time grant, with the amount set by the cell

Who can apply

• Startups with a valid SITPC certificate number
• Startups with a promising idea (the incentives page) or a promising MVP (the 2025 policy). The two texts differ, so describe your stage plainly in the application
• Startups whose directors' bank accounts are linked to Aadhaar

How selection works: The cell reviews applications under its own due diligence and guidelines. Applicants present to a panel of experts.

How to apply: Apply online through the Goa Online portal after logging in. No intake window is published. Use the Apply Now button on the incentives page. Keep ready the address proof of an operational office in Goa, a cancelled cheque, the founder's CV in World Bank format, and a detailed plan of action for building the MVP.

This scheme pays back part of the salaries a startup has already paid. Nothing is paid before the salary goes out. It has two tiers: one for hiring local freshers, and one for startups whose workforce is at least 60% local.

The cell selects a limited number of startups each year and states that the benefit is not an entitlement.

What you get

• A share of the salary paid to local freshers: 50% on the incentives page
• For a workforce that is 60% local, up to 25% of the local workforce's salary, for three years
• The cap on the second tier is written as a yearly figure on the incentives page and as a monthly per-recruit figure in the 2025 policy document, so confirm the current cap with the cell

Who can apply

• Startups with a valid SITPC certificate
• Hires kept for at least 12 months. Fresher means a graduate within two years of finishing study
• Local means born in Goa, living in Goa for 10 years or more, or married to such a person through a Goa-registered marriage
• Directors' and employees' bank accounts linked to Aadhaar, with salaries paid digitally

How selection works: The cell selects startups each year under its own guidelines.

How to apply: Apply online through the Goa Online portal after logging in. No intake window is published. Documents include proof that the employee is Goan (such as a birth certificate), degree certificates and employment contracts.

This scheme pays back 50% of what a certified startup has already paid for seats at a co-working space, incubator or accelerator that the cell has listed. Each type of space has its own per-seat ceiling, and a startup can claim for up to 8 seats. For certain deserving startups the cell may reimburse more.

What you get

• Half of the seat cost paid back after you pay it
• Co-working seats for up to two years, incubator seats for up to one year, accelerator seats for up to three months

Who can apply

• Startups with a valid SITPC certificate
• Startups that pay the space digitally and have Aadhaar-linked bank accounts
• Startups that occupy seats at spaces on the cell's list

How selection works: The number of subsidised seats is capped each year, so claims are handled within that limit.

How to apply: Apply online through the Goa Online portal after logging in. No intake window is published. The incentives page links the list of co-working spaces. Keep ready the address proof of an operational office in Goa, your agreement with the space and a cancelled cheque from a Goa bank account.

This scheme pays back running costs that a certified startup has already paid while working from privately owned or rented premises. It has two tracks, and a startup can claim only one at a time. A startup that uses a government-developed co-working space, incubator or accelerator cannot claim it.

What you get

• Track one: internet, software licence and cloud costs paid back each quarter for one year, up to a quarterly ceiling
• Track two: a lease-rent subsidy per square foot, paid quarterly for up to two years. This track is only for local startups in rented premises

Who can apply

• Startups with a valid SITPC certificate
• Startups with Aadhaar-linked director bank accounts that pay costs digitally
• For the lease-rent track, local startups, meaning at least half the equity is held by Goans since inception

How selection works: Claims are checked against the scheme's documents and the cell's guidelines.

How to apply: Apply online through the Goa Online portal after logging in. No intake window is published. Documents include the lease deed, proof of payment for lease, cloud, internet and software, vendor invoices and, for the local track, a Goa domicile certificate.

This scheme pays back up to the full cost of fees and other costs a certified startup has paid to apply for IP, whether the IP is later registered or not. Separate ceilings apply to national and international IP. It is a one-time payment per application, and it is refused if another central or state scheme has funded the same IP.

What you get

• Government and attorney fees paid back after you pay them
• Cover for both national and international IP applications

Who can apply

• Startups with a valid SITPC certificate
• Startups whose IP is for a technology-based product or service
• Startups with Aadhaar-linked director bank accounts that pay digitally

How selection works: Up to 200 startups can use the benefit each year. Disbursal follows seniority or the cell's recommendation, depending on the state's budget allotment.

How to apply: Apply online through the Goa Online portal after logging in. No intake window is published.

This scheme pays back 50% of the cost of registering a company name and logo as trademarks, up to a ceiling. It is only for startups that have reached the production or service-delivery phase and whose trademark is already registered.

What you get

• Half the trademark registration cost paid back after you pay it

Who can apply

• Startups with a valid SITPC certificate
• Startups past the product or service delivery stage with a successfully registered trademark
• Startups with Aadhaar-linked director bank accounts that pay digitally

How selection works: Up to 200 applicants a year are selected by the cell at its discretion, under its guidelines.

How to apply: Apply online through the Goa Online portal after logging in. No intake window is published. Keep ready the logo design, trademark certificate, a copy of the application, bills and proof of payment.

This scheme pays back 50% of the research and development spending of a local startup, including the salaries of PhD and Master's-degree holders it employs, for two years. Yearly ceilings apply, with a lower ceiling on the salary part. Preference goes to startups that have filed or been granted a patent.

What you get

• Half of R&D expenses paid back after you pay them, for two years

Who can apply

• Local startups, meaning at least 50% of the equity is held by Goans continuously since inception, with a valid SITPC certificate
• Startups with a working prototype
• Startups whose claimed staff were hired for at least 12 months and hold PhD or Master's degrees from a government-recognised institute
• Directors' and employees' bank accounts linked to Aadhaar, with spend paid digitally

How selection works: Up to 100 startups can use the benefit each year.

How to apply: Apply online through the Goa Online portal after logging in. No intake window is published.

This scheme is for institutions rather than startup founders. It gives a one-time capital grant to set up an incubator inside a campus, and a yearly operating grant for three years to institutes that already have incubation facilities. Incubation cannot be limited to the institute's own students.

Who can apply

• Educational institutes in Goa affiliated to a recognised public university
• Institutes that open the facility beyond their own students

How to apply: Apply online through the Goa Online portal after logging in. No intake window is published. Keep ready the address proof, a cancelled cheque and a plan of expenditure for the proposed costs.

This scheme is for training businesses, not startup founders. It encourages retail educational institutes that teach programming and technical skills to open learning centres in Goa and offer courses at rates fixed with the cell. Up to 10 institutes can use it each year, in the technical areas the scheme lists.

Who can apply

• Institutes listed by the cell, with a valid Startup Cell registration number
• Institutes with at least one government-recognised learning centre in Goa. Tie-ups with equipment makers are preferred
• Institutes with Aadhaar-linked bank accounts

How to apply: Apply online through the Goa Online portal after logging in. No intake window is published.

The Goa Startup Accelerator Program is run by the Startup and IT Promotion Cell for startups at the MVP stage and beyond, with a focus on growth and go-to-market work. The 2025 call closed in September 2025. The site announces no new intake, so check the page before planning around it. The page gives the 2025 run as September 2025 to January 2026, while a news report in February 2026 said the programme was launched in Panaji and would run from February to June 2026.

What you get

• One-on-one mentorship
• Expert-led masterclasses
• Regular progress reviews
• A Demo Day with access to investors and corporates
• No fee for selected startups. The page does not state any cash grant

Who can apply

• Startups registered in Goa or working in Goa
• Startups from any sector that have a working MVP and high growth potential

How selection works: Startups applied openly or were nominated. An expert selection committee of incubators, industry associations and other stakeholders chose about 30 startups.

How to apply: The 2025 call used an online registration link published by the cell, open from 22 July to 10 September 2025. No current call is published.

In this challenge, Goa government departments and industry post real problems, and winning teams get the chance to pilot their solution with the government or the industry. The challenge page states no prize. The 2025 edition has ended: news reports say winners were felicitated in February 2026, and no new edition is announced on the site.

Who can apply

• Registered startups from anywhere in India, not only Goa
• Students from institutes based in Goa
• Entrants can submit more than one solution
• Entry is free

How to apply: In 2025, entrants used the Register Now button on the challenge page. First submissions and evaluations were online, and final presentations were held in person in Goa.