Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS)

InFED is one of the incubators through which the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme is disbursed, and it is by far the most common route into its portfolio — fifteen of the startups on its portfolio page are tagged as incubated under the scheme. InFED has also published a coffee table book about its seed fund cohort.

What you get

• Seed support for proof of concept, prototype development, product trials, market entry and commercialisation
• Support is available as a grant and as debt or convertible debentures, each once
• No mandatory physical incubation under the scheme's own rules

Who can apply

• Startups recognised by DPIIT and incorporated no more than two years before applying
• A business idea with market fit, viable commercialisation and scope to scale
• Technology in the core product, service, business model, distribution model or method
• At least 51% Indian promoter shareholding
• You must not already have taken more than the scheme's stated ceiling of central or state government support

How selection works: through the scheme's own process at the incubator you apply to.

How to apply: through the national seed fund portal, which takes applications year-round and lets a startup approach three incubators at once. Name InFED as one of them.