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Department of Science & Technology, Government of India

Technology Development Board (TDB) - Seed Support System

The Entrepreneurship Development Center (‘Venture Center’ ) recently received approval under the scheme "Seed Support System for Start-ups in Incubators" of the Technology Development Board, Department of Science & Technology to host a seed fund with a corpus of Rs 1 crore.

The purpose of the seed fund is to provide a technology driven startup with the much-needed early stage financial support for deserving ideas/technologies requiring up-scaling and related work.

Incubatees of Venture Center are encouraged to contact Venture Center for further information.

Quantum of financial assistance to the incubated entrepreneur

  • Minimum: Rs. 1 lakh
  • Maximum: Rs. 15 lakhs

Broad Areas to be covered under the financial assistance include:

  • Product development
  • Testing and trials
  • Test Marketing
  • Mentoring
  • Professional consultancy to engage Professors / experts with small firms
  • Filing of Indian/International patents
  • Man power for day to day operations
  • Any other area as deemed necessary and recommended by the Management Committee.

The Seed fund emphasizes:

  • Alignment with Venture Center's Focus areas
  • Product offering's (Vs Service offerings)
  • IP-rich enterprises
  • Strong knowledge components in enterprises

The seed fund is only for

  • Companies with minimum 51% ownership by Indian nationals
  • Companies ready to be incubated at Ventuer Center

Here is a list of make/break criteria for applicants:

  • There must be at-least one dedicated entrepreneur involved in the venture
  • There must be a formal business plan
  • The venture and the team must have high ethical & professional standards
  • The venture must have a strong technology/knowledge component
  • EHS requirements must be met
  • Key Proof-of-Concept must be demonstrated & must be reproducible
  • The venture must be registered as a private limited company, or must be in the process of registration
  • The amount of funding requested must be less than Rs 15 lakh
  • The entrepreneur(s) must be willing to share equity in the venture
  • The seed funds requested must be for activities such as product development, prototyping, scale-up, developing IP portfolio, test marketing, trials, certification, testing

Applications for the seed fund will be reviewed based on criteria such as (but not limited to):

  • Is amount of funding requested enough to reach critical milestone?
  • Does the venture have a clear, potentially significant/singular value proposition
  • How big/fast growing is the potential market?
  • Are target customers clearly identified?
  • How credible is the technology? (Is PoC credible in the opinion of subject-matter experts?)
  • Are there regulatory/certification/policy risks?
  • What are the sources of sustainable competitive advantage (eg. novelty, patentability, etc.)?
  • What is the quality of the business plan (revenue model, product roadmap, market segments, etc.)?

Typical terms for seed funding:

  • Investment mode: Equity ownership in a private limited company
  • Equity stake for seed fund: Up to 20%
  • Investment amount: Rs 1 lakh - 15 lakh
  • BoD representation: 1 BoD seat or 1 BoD observer, with special rights
  • Promoter/founder stakes: Vesting requirements
  • Reporting: Bi-annual presentation to seed committee + Quarterly/annual financials

Business Plan Templates

History of TDB seed fund at Venture Center

Round 1
  • Deadline for application: March 15, 2010
  • Committee meeting: April 16, 2010
  • Number of proposals presented: 2
  • Number of proposals recommended for funding: 0
Round 2
  • Deadline for application: October 15, 2010
  • Committee meeting: October 25, 2010
  • Number of proposals presented: 3
  • Number of proposals recommended for funding: 2
  • Investments made: Shantani Proteome Analytics, Shashwat Oorja
Round 3
  • Deadline for application: August 15, 2011
  • Number of proposals received: 2
  • Number of proposals recommended for funding: 0
Round 4
  • Deadline for application: November 30, 2011
  • Committee meeting: January 14, 2012
  • Number of proposals received: 3
  • Number of proposals presented: 1
  • Number of proposals recommended for funding: 1
  • Investments made: Seagull BioSolutions
Round 5
  • Deadline for application: October 15, 2012
  • Number of proposals received: 16
  • Number of proposals recommended for funding: 0
Round 6
  • Deadline for application: 20th May 2013
  • Number of proposals received: 6
  • Number of proposals recommended for TDB funding: 0
  • Number of proposals recommended for other funding: 2
Round 7
  • Deadline for application: 5th Feb 2014
  • Number of proposals received: 2
  • Number of proposals recommended for TDB funding: 0
  • Number of proposals recommended for other funding: 2
Round 8
  • Deadline for application: 30th May 2014
  • Number of proposals received: 5
  • Number of proposals recommended for TDB funding: 0
  • Number of proposals recommended for other funding: 1
Round 9
  • Deadline for application: 15th Feb 2015
  • Number of proposals received: 7
  • Number of proposals recommended for TDB funding: 1
  • Number of proposals recommended for other funding: 0
  • Investment made: Nayam Innovations Pvt Ltd
Round 10
  • Deadline for application: 28th July 2015
  • Number of proposals received: 4
  • Number of proposals recommended for TDB funding: 0
  • Number of proposals recommended for other funding: 0
Round 11
  • Deadline for application: 23rd January 2016
  • Number of proposals received: 4
  • Number of proposals recommended for TDB funding: 2
  • Number of proposals recommended for other funding: 0
Round 12
  • Deadline for application: 15th Apr 2016
  • Number of proposals received: 4
  • Number of proposals recommended for TDB funding: 3
  • Number of proposals recommended for other funding: 0
  • Investment made: Green Pyramid Biotech Pvt Ltd

Beneficiaries of DST Seed Support Scheme:

TDB Seed Support Scheme @ Venture Center

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