NIDHI Seed Support Program

NSTEDB, under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, has introduced the NIDHI – Seed Support (SS) Program to provide crucial financial assistance to technology-driven startups in their early stages of development. The program is designed to bridge the gap between ideation and commercialization by supporting innovative ventures with strong technical potential. The primary objective of the seed support system is to nurture startups with promising ideas, innovations, and technologies by reducing early-stage financial constraints. The NIDHI Seed Support Program (NIDHI-SSP) offers funding for activities such as proof of concept, prototype development, product validation, market trials, initial market entry, and eventual commercialization, thereby strengthening the startup ecosystem. Eligibility: The applicant startup must be a company registered in India, preferably be a DPIIT registered/applied startup and should have completed a minimum 3 months of association with the incubator in its resident or virtual incubation program. The applicant startup should have developed a clarity on Unique Selling Proposition (USP) through customer validation and value proposition for its targeted customers. This support is not meant for Indian Subsidiaries of MNCs/foreign companies. Persons holding Overseas Citizens of India (OCI). Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) would be considered as Indian citizens for the purpose of this scheme. The shareholding by Indian promoters in the incubated startup should be at least 51%. Preference will be given to startups, who have not availed any funding from any Government of India /State Govt. body. Funding ranges from 2,500,000 to 10,000,000 rupees. The fund disbursal will be on an installment basis. A related scheme, Scale-up Seed Support Scheme (an initiative of the Government of Kerala), provides financial assistance mainly through collateral-free debt or SAFE instruments such as CCD/CCPS to help startups expand products, markets, and operations, and bridge the gap between early-stage funding and VC funding. Eligibility for Scale-up Seed Support: Startups must be registered in Kerala as a Private Limited company, recognized by DPIIT, and have a KSUM Unique ID. They should be working on an innovative product or technology and be in the revenue stage, with at least Rs. 25 lakhs revenue in the last four quarters or Rs. 25 lakhs investment from an angel/VC, and at least Rs. 5 lakhs revenue in the previous quarter. Max funding for Scale-up Seed Support is Rs. 25 lakhs per startup. Startups that have already availed KSUM seed fund may also be eligible for an extended limit. Repayment for Scale-up Seed Fund: soft loan at 6% simple interest per annum. Startups can avail a 12-month moratorium, and the total amount (with interest) must be repaid in 36 monthly installments. Repayment is first adjusted against the principal, and prepayment is allowed without any penalty.