NIDHI Seed Support Program

The program is hosted by Chitkara Innovation Incubator Foundation (CIIF) under the Department of Science and Technology. Eligibility requires the applicant startup to be a company registered in India, preferably DPIIT registered/applied, and to have completed a minimum of 3 months of association with CIIF's resident or virtual incubation program. The startup must have clarity on Unique Selling Preposition (USP) through customer validation. This support is not for Indian subsidiaries of MNCs/foreign companies. Indian promoters must hold at least 51% shareholding. Preference is given to startups that have not availed funding from any Government of India/State Govt. body, have funding commitments from an external investor, or have hardware-based products. Founders must be working full-time on the startup, which must have a clear roadmap, business/revenue generation plan, technically sound idea and team, and potential for future investment. The venture must be registered as a private limited company and be willing to share equity against funding. Applicants must be incubatees of CIIF or willing to be incubated for three months. The startup should not have received funding under the Seed Support Program from similar organizations. Investment modes include Equity, Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares, Compulsorily Convertible Debentures, or Debt, decided by the Seed Support Management Committee (SSMC). Equity exit is considered within 3 to 5 years. CIIF will have 1 Board Nominee Director and/or observer. Reporting includes bi-annual presentations and sharing of financials/MIS. A legal agreement will detail terms like funding amount, purpose, investment mode, repayment/exit criteria, cap table, RoFR, Tag along, and drag along. Equity is taken on pre-money valuation. Funds are primarily for technology development, de-risking activities, scale-up, market entry, product development, mentoring, consultancy, and IPR issues. Not more than 10% of funds can be used for team salaries. Funds cannot be used for loan repayment, personal assets, inter-corporate deposits, speculative purposes, or personal benefit of promoters.