The NIDHI Seed Support Program (SSP) is a flagship initiative by the Department of Science & Technology (DST), providing financial assistance to promising early-stage tech startups to transition from prototype to commercialization (lab to market).
Implemented at ACIC-VGU Foundation, the program offers seed funding support of up to ₹50 Lakhs through a flexible structure of Equity or Equity-linked instruments (with a minority equity stake taken by the incubator).
Key benefits include:
- Funding for PoC, prototype development, product trials, customer validation, and launch.
- Milestone-based disbursement and a moratorium of up to 12 months (in case of loan-based support, although the mode of funding is listed as Equity/Equity-linked).
- Expert mentorship, investor connect, and GTM support via the ACIC VGU Foundation ecosystem.