NIDHI-EIR

NIDHI-EIR is for someone who wants to leave a job or graduate straight into building a technology business and needs a year of cover to do it. FIRST hosts recipients and reports fellows it has supported. No intake window or deadline is published.

What you get

• A monthly subsistence grant for twelve months.
• Office space and administrative support at the incubator.
• Guidance and mentoring from FIRST in business planning and execution.
• The grant stops from the date you receive the first tranche of any funding or investment you raise.

Who can apply

• Indian citizens with government-approved proof of nationality.
• Either four years of full-time undergraduate or postgraduate education towards one or more degrees, with the basic degree or diploma in science or engineering; or a three-year degree or diploma in science or engineering plus two years of full-time work after it.
• Typically a first-generation founder with no other source of income, pursuing the venture full time. It cannot run alongside another education programme, a paid assignment or another fellowship.
• You cannot be the promoter or hold more than ten per cent of another company, either when applying or after approval.
• You have to be registered on FIRST's pre-incubation or incubation programme for the whole period.

How selection works: Preference goes to ideas with larger technical uncertainty or long development times, ideas built on technology or intellectual property from publicly funded research or academic organisations, and ideas with real social impact. Ventures with little or no technical novelty, or less than six months to market, are discouraged from applying.

How to apply: Use the Apply for NIDHI-EIR link on FIRST's scheme page, which opens its own application portal.