Call for proposal: Empowering Tech Startups Ready for Commercialization
A programme by Technology Development Board (TDB) (Technology Development Board)
A dedicated startup call that closed in April 2025; it is worth knowing because it set out exactly what TDB wants from a startup applicant.
At a glance
| Best for | DPIIT-recognised Indian startups with a technology ready to commercialise |
|---|---|
| Stage | Early revenue – Growth |
| Cost | Free |
About Call for proposal: Empowering Tech Startups Ready for Commercialization
This call is closed. It opened on 20 February 2025, its last date was extended to 10 April 2025, and no successor has been announced. It is written up here because it is TDB's clearest statement of what it expects from a startup, and because a startup can still apply through the core route at any time on the same terms.
The call invited Indian startups at technology readiness level above six, meaning ready to commercialise rather than still being researched, and was aimed at bridging the gap between a working technology and a product on the market. Support followed TDB's standard funding guidelines, with a better share of project cost available on smaller projects than a non-startup would get.
Who could apply
- A company intending to commercialise the technology, incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 or 2013
- Holding a DPIIT recognition certificate
How to apply: it was an online submission through TDB's portal, with a downloadable form template so applicants could gather documents before filling it in. If a similar call reopens it will appear under the programme menu on TDB's site; in the meantime the rolling core route is open.
Where to apply
Other TDB programmes
- TDB Core FundingTDB's standing, all-year route: project financing for an Indian company commercialising an indigenous technology, given mainly as a soft loan.
- Funding through the Research, Development and Innovation Fund (TDB as Second Level Fund Manager)A newer national route where TDB lends to companies and startups building strategic technologies; the scheme states it does not give grants.
- India-Finland Joint Innovation Call 2026An open joint call where an Indian company and a Finnish partner apply together; the Indian side is funded by grant on a reimbursement basis.
- Bilateral international joint calls (DST/TDB country programme)A standing route of joint calls with partner countries' innovation agencies, each opening and closing on its own dates; all are closed except the India-Finland call.
- Sector calls for proposalsPeriodic calls aimed at one named sector at a time, run on TDB's standard funding terms; every one listed on its site has closed.