The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on Wednesday announced the Startup Accelerator for Product Innovation, Development & Growth (SAMRIDH) program, which aims to help growing startups in India. The program was announced in MeitY’s annual report earlier this year and was under approval at the time.
“The part where an idea is becoming a product, and the product is being scaled, is the most vulnerable part (of a startup). As we all know, more than 50% of startups are unable to cross this bridge due to various reasons,” said Ashwini Vaishnaw, minister of electronics and information technology.
The minister also said the government wants to expand the incubator and startup networks to 10x, 20x and beyond.
The government has invited existing startup accelerators to partner and will provide them with funds of up to ₹40 lakh. The scheme claims to fund 300 early-stage startups that are close to the product development stage over a period of time.
Only accelerators that have been in the incubation business for at least three years and have supported more than 50 startups, with at least 10 having a non-public business, will be eligible to apply for the scheme. They must also have operations in India and the necessary space and infrastructure to be eligible.
This is not the first time the government has partnered with startup accelerators. On August 7, MeitY Startup Hub joined India Accelerator under a program called SOMA, which aims to promote deep tech startups in the country. MeitY Startup Hub is another program under MeitY that aims to promote startups in the country.
