Grant · India

NIDHI Seed Support Program (NIDHI-SSP)

DST seed fund deployed through approved technology business incubators, which can invest up to ₹1 crore per incubated startup through equity, equity-linked instruments or soft loans.

Status unknown Run by Department of Science and Technology, Government of India

Visit the programme's site

Verified 18 October 2026 · From the programme's own pages

Terms

Funding: not published Seed support capped at ₹100 lakh (₹1 crore) per startup, with ₹1 crore only in exceptional cases; the guidelines note incubators have typically invested ₹10-25 lakh per startup. The incubator's seed support management committee sets the amount and mode: equity, equity-linked instruments or soft loan (interest no more than the repo rate, moratorium up to 12 months)
Instrument: not published
Equity taken: not published
Programme fee: not published
Duration: not published
Cohort size: not published
Cohorts: not published
Delivery: Remote
Stages: Seed
Sectors: Sector-agnostic
Open to founders from: India
Perks: not published

Startups apply to calls run by participating NIDHI-supported incubators; DST funds each incubator with up to ₹1,000 lakh. A startup can receive NIDHI seed support only once, except in cases approved by DST.

Application dates

Status unknown

Dates not published. No national startup window; startups apply through periodic calls on participating incubators' websites.

Usual timing: No national startup window; startups apply through periodic calls on participating incubators' websites.

Who can apply

Company registered in India, preferably DPIIT-recognised
At least 3 months in the incubator's resident or virtual incubation programme
Indian promoters hold at least 51% of shares
USP validated with customers
Not open to Indian subsidiaries of multinational or foreign companies
Stage: seed

What founders should check

The programme does not publish how much equity it takes. Ask before you accept a place.
It does not publish a fee. Ask whether you pay for desks, services or the programme itself.
It runs remotely. Check the time zone of live sessions.
Dates for the next cohort are not published. No national startup window; startups apply through periodic calls on participating incubators' websites.

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