Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)

Pick the route first

MeitY's startup support reaches founders through partner organisations, so the first decision is which partner to approach.

• Idea to prototype, with a university or research-institute incubator near you: look at the TIDE 2.0 incubation centres and apply to the one that fits your field.
• A founder or early-stage innovator in a Tier II or Tier III city: watch for GENESIS component calls on MeitY Startup Hub and name the Implementing Agencies you prefer.
• A startup ready to join an accelerator cohort: apply to a selected SAMRIDH accelerator, and expect it to take equity.

How applications work

• TIDE 2.0 and SAMRIDH have no single application form. Each incubation centre or accelerator runs its own call.
• GENESIS calls are published component by component, and the Cohort 3 Entrepreneur-in-Residence call used an online form with a choice of Implementing Agencies. Your first preference was fixed once you submitted, so choose it carefully.
• Windows open and close. The Cohort 3 call ran for one month, and the process from call to final selection is ordinarily completed within 30 days.
• Check MeitY Startup Hub for the live list of calls before you plan around any deadline.

Check eligibility before you apply

• Indian citizenship is required for TIDE 2.0 Entrepreneur-in-Residence support, according to one incubation centre's eligibility sheet.
• GENESIS expects Indian promoters to hold at least 51% of the startup when you apply.
• For the Cohort 3 Entrepreneur-in-Residence call, a registered startup had to be no more than two years old on the date of application.
• Read the full guidelines of the specific call. Component calls have their own rules, and they differ between calls.

Know the terms

• Funding under GENESIS Entrepreneur-in-Residence is subject to approval and to meeting set milestones.
• The GENESIS Investment component needs private-sector money to match.
• SAMRIDH involves the government and the accelerator taking equity.

Contact

Questions about the schemes can go to meity-sthub@gov.in, the inbox printed on the GENESIS brochure.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is the Government of India ministry for electronics and information technology. Its startup programmes are run through MeitY Startup Hub (MSH), the office founders deal with, which sits at Electronics Niketan, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road in New Delhi. MSH was set up under the TIDE 2.0 approval to coordinate the ICT startup and innovation ecosystem across the country.

How MeitY's startup support works

MeitY does not usually take founder applications itself. It funds partner organisations, and those partners select the startups. Under TIDE 2.0 the partners are incubators in institutes of higher learning and research organisations. Under SAMRIDH they are accelerators chosen through an open call. Under GENESIS they are Implementing Agencies, preferably in Tier II and Tier III cities. For a founder, the practical step is usually to find the right partner and apply there, or to apply to a call that MSH publishes and name the partner you prefer.

The three schemes cover different points on the founder journey. TIDE 2.0 is for the earliest work, from idea to product. GENESIS is built around startups in smaller cities, with separate components for early-stage support, piloting and investment. SAMRIDH is an accelerator scheme in which MeitY and the accelerator invest alongside each other.

TIDE 2.0

TIDE 2.0 stands for Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs. MeitY supports 51 incubators under it, all located in institutes of higher learning and research and development organisations. The incubators support ICT startups in three stages. The first is Entrepreneur-in-Residence support, which takes an idea to a proof of concept. The second is grant support for building a prototype. The third is investment support for product development and market outreach.

The scheme is aimed at technology startups using emerging technologies such as IoT, AI, blockchain and robotics, in areas of societal relevance. These include healthcare, education, agriculture, financial inclusion, infrastructure and transportation, environment and clean tech, and clean energy. TIDE 2.0 was approved for 60 months from 1 February 2019. A government press release in December 2025 still reports startups being supported through it, so the scheme is active in practice, but each centre sets its own intake windows.

You apply to an incubation centre, not to MeitY. One centre's published eligibility sheet for the Entrepreneur-in-Residence route says applicants must be Indian citizens with a government-approved proof of nationality. Other conditions are set centre by centre, so read your chosen centre's own call.

GENESIS

GENESIS stands for Gen-Next Support for Innovative Startups. It is a five-year scheme to discover, support, grow and accelerate startups in Tier II and Tier III cities. MSH implements it through about 50 Implementing Agencies, which are incubators, accelerators and academic or research institutions, preferably based in those cities.

GENESIS has four components. The Entrepreneur-in-Residence component supports early-stage startups with funding and no matching requirement. The Pilot component funds startups that have validated their idea and need to pilot their product, again with no matching requirement. The Investment component is for startups raising money from the market, and the private-sector money is matched one to one. A fourth provision supports some deep-tech startups with funding and no matching requirement.

The brochure sets out criteria for startups: the startup should be a beneficiary of MeitY schemes or registered with MSH, and Indian promoters should hold at least 51% at the time of application. Individual component calls open and close separately, and each has its own stricter rules.

The most recent call we can confirm is the GENESIS Entrepreneur-in-Residence call for Cohort 3. Its application window ran from 4 August 2026 to 3 September 2026, so it is closed. Founders applied online and named their preferred Implementing Agencies.

SAMRIDH

SAMRIDH stands for Startup Accelerator of MeitY for Product Innovation, Development and Growth. MeitY invites existing and new accelerators to become its partners and run six-month accelerator programmes each year. 186 accelerators submitted expressions of interest and 43 were selected, across 16 states. Government figures from February 2026 say 373 startups have been selected and accelerated, and 241 of them have secured matching funding.

SAMRIDH funding is not equity-free. The scheme document says MSH takes equity in the startup for the government's contribution, through a promissory note or SAFE note, in the same way as the accelerator does. You apply to a selected accelerator for its cohort rather than to MeitY.

A completed scheme: SASACT

The Scheme for Accelerating Startups around Post COVID Technology Opportunities, known as SASACT, ran for one year. It selected and supported 41 startups and is complete, so there is no intake to apply to.

Who can apply

MeitY's schemes are for Indian technology startups. The focus is on ICT and electronics, and GENESIS in particular is aimed at founders in Tier II and Tier III cities. Where a scheme names a requirement, such as Indian citizenship for TIDE 2.0 Entrepreneur-in-Residence support or majority Indian promoter shareholding for GENESIS, it applies at the time you apply. The ministry also runs large manufacturing and export schemes for electronics and IT hardware companies, but those serve manufacturers and exporters rather than early-stage founders and are not covered here.

Scale

In August 2024 a government release said MeitY had supported more than 3,600 tech startups across all its schemes. A December 2025 release said TIDE 2.0 alone had supported 1,706 startups through its 51 incubators, with 1,672 patent and IP filings from 638 of them, and that more than 150 incubated startups had gone global. These are the government's own figures, from different dates, and the 3,600 total is not the sum of the three schemes named above.

Contact

MeitY Startup Hub is at 2044, Electronics Niketan, 6, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi 110003. Its scheme brochure lists the inbox meity-sthub@gov.in for queries.