Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade
SISFS
Startup India Seed Fund Scheme
Up to Rs 20 lakh grant for proof-of-concept / prototype / product trials, plus up to Rs 50 lakh as convertible debentures / debt for market entry, commercialization or scaling — each instrument availed once per startup.
Closed. Applications closed on 31 May 2026, with incubators directed to finish selection by 30 June 2026. No successor cycle has been announced.
Startup India Seed Fund Scheme
Up to Rs 20 lakh grant for proof-of-concept / prototype / product trials, plus up to Rs 50 lakh as convertible debentures / debt for market entry, commercialization or scaling — each instrument availed once per startup.
Who qualifies
DPIIT-recognised startups (Pvt Ltd / Partnership Firm / LLP) incorporated <= 2 years, turnover <= Rs 100 cr, that have taken <= Rs 10 lakh of other government support and have >= 51% Indian-promoter shareholding, applying to a disbursing-partner incubator.
- Instrument
- Grant (non-repayable)
- Issued by
- Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade
- Coverage
- All India
- Launched
- 2021
What it is worth
Up to ₹20 lakhINR
Up to Rs 20 lakh grant for validation of proof of concept, prototype development or product trials. Disbursed in milestone-based installments; non-repayable, no equity dilution. First grant installment released within 60 days of the startup's application.
Up to ₹50 lakhINR
Up to Rs 50 lakh of investment for market entry, commercialization or scaling-up via convertible debentures, debt, or debt-linked instruments. Interest not more than the prevailing repo rate; tenure fixed at sanction, not more than 60 months; moratorium up to 12 months; unsecured, with no promoter or third-party guarantee (terms recorded as notes, not benefits).
Worth knowing
- STATUS: Flagship DPIIT seed scheme with a Rs 945 crore outlay (target ~3,600 startups via ~300 incubators). The final, extended last date for startup applications was 31 May 2026, with incubators directed to complete 100% of startup selection by 30 June 2026; no successor cycle has been officially announced as of the research date (2026-06-21). Marked Closed because the startup application window is no longer open — review for reactivation to Active if DPIIT opens a new application window.
- Once-only rule (paras 3.1.7 / 8.1): a startup may avail the grant once and the debt/convertible-debenture support once.
- Entity-type and Rs 100 crore turnover ceiling flow from the DPIIT 'recognised startup' definition incorporated by eligibility clause 1; sole proprietorships and public limited companies are NOT eligible. The not-by-splitting/reconstruction condition is modelled as the is_reconstruction gate; the once-only rule as the has_received_this_scheme gate.
- Committee-judged differentiators (market fit, viable commercialization, scope of scaling, and use of technology/innovation) are modelled as analyst-assessed ordinal scoring_criteria (market_fit / commercialization_viability / scalability / innovation_level), not as hard gates. The priority-sector preference is modelled as an impact_theme scoring criterion.
- The Rs 10 lakh prior-government-support ceiling excludes prize money from competitions/grand challenges, subsidised working space, founder monthly allowance, and access to labs or prototyping facilities.
Sources
Every figure and condition above is traceable to a government document. Scheme terms change — if this page and the source disagree, the source is right, and we want to know.
Startup eligibility criteria (DPIIT recognition, <=2 years incorporation, <=Rs 10 lakh other govt support, >=51% Indian-promoter shareholding) and benefit amounts (Rs 20 lakh grant; Rs 50 lakh convertible/debt); debt terms (repo-rate interest, <=60-month tenure, <=12-month moratorium, unsecured).
Rs 945 crore outlay; ~3,600 startups via ~300 incubators; eligibility and funding-component summary.
Eligible legal forms (Private Limited Company / Registered Partnership Firm / LLP; sole proprietorship and public limited company not eligible), Rs 100 crore turnover ceiling, and not-formed-by-splitting/reconstruction condition.
https://www.ccamp.res.in/seed-funding-SISFS · retrieved
Final extended startup application deadline 31 May 2026; incubators to complete 100% startup selection by 30 June 2026.
https://seedfund.startupindia.gov.in/ · retrieved
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