📄 Article
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India
Free
Beginner
Why we picked it
This is the side-by-side you actually need before you write a single application: 30+ Indian schemes with ticket size, eligibility, and a sector-to-body map that tells you biotech goes to BIRAC, defence to iDEX, and software proof-of-concept to SISFS. It also stages the grants (idea, prototype, scaling) so you stop applying to a scheme meant for a stage you are not at.
From
Backrr
by Backrr
15 min read
- Match by sector and stage: BIG (up to 50 lakh) for lab-provable biotech, SISFS (up to 20 lakh grant plus 50 lakh debt) for early software/product via an incubator, state schemes (Karnataka Elevate up to 50 lakh, TANSEED up to 10 lakh) when you are physically based there
- SISFS caps you at 10 lakh of prior central/state government funding, so sequence it before or without heavy grant stacking
- Sector determines the door more than the form: defence goes to iDEX, deep-tech to BIRAC/MeitY, generalist software to SISFS
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📄 Article
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India
Free
Intermediate
Why we picked it
The official BIG page, not a blog paraphrase: up to 50 lakh grant-in-aid over 18 months, calls opening 1 January and 1 July each year for roughly 45 days, and the hard gate most founders miss, that you need a registered company with a functional R&D lab (or incubatee status) to even be eligible. If your innovation is lab-provable biotech, healthtech, or agri-biotech, this is your obvious fit, and prior BIG grantees cannot reapply.
From
BIRAC (Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council)
by BIRAC
10 min read
- Up to 50 lakh grant-in-aid, milestone-disbursed over 18 months to take a biotech idea to proof of concept
- Two calls a year (1 Jan, 1 Feb window ~45 days), applied online only through birac.nic.in
- Eligibility requires a functional R&D lab via a registered company or incubatee status, so this is not a slideware grant
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📄 Article
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India
Free
Beginner
Why we picked it
The clearest single-page explainer of the SISFS mechanics that trip founders up: you never apply to DPIIT directly, you apply to up to three empanelled incubators, and the money splits into a non-dilutive grant (up to 20 lakh for proof of concept or prototype) plus repayable/convertible instruments (up to 50 lakh for scaling). It spells out the 51% Indian shareholding rule, the under-2-years incorporation cap, and the 10 lakh prior-funding ceiling in one place.
From
Startup Grants India
by Startup Grants India
12 min read
- Grant up to 20 lakh for proof of concept/prototype/trials, plus up to 50 lakh as convertible debt for scaling
- You apply through empanelled incubators (up to three in preference order), not to DPIIT directly
- Hard gates: DPIIT-recognised, incorporated under 2 years, 51% Indian promoter shareholding, and under 10 lakh of prior government funding
Open
startupgrantsindia.com →