Tool · portal page

NIDHI-PRAYAS: Proof-of-Concept Grant for Young Innovators (DST)

Department of Science and Technology (NIDHI Programme) · NIDHI, Government of India Free Beginner India

This is the one scheme built for the exact moment you describe: an idea and no company. NIDHI-PRAYAS funds up to 10 lakh to turn a concept into a working prototype, and its eligibility explicitly names students, researchers and innovators (no incorporation required). You apply through a PRAYAS Centre at a nearby incubator, which also hands you fab-lab bench space and mentoring, so your inexperience is the qualifier, not the disqualifier.

  • Grant up to 10 lakh for prototype / proof-of-concept, before you have revenue or a registered company
  • Open to students, researchers and individual innovators, not just formed startups
  • Applications route through designated PRAYAS Centres at host incubators, which also give workspace and mentoring
Open on nidhi.dst.gov.in ↗

The question it answers

  1. What free money and support exists specifically for first-time and student founders who've never raised anything?

Read with it

  1. SISFS is the most accessible non-dilutive cheque for early Indian startups, and this is where you actually apply. It's... Seed Fund Portal (seedfund.startupindia.gov.in) Tool · Application portal Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS), Official Portal DPIIT, Government of India
  2. This is the policy that forces the 10,000-plus AICTE institutions to build pre-incubation support (IICs, EDCs, campus TBIs) for... AICTE, Government of India Article · policy document National Innovation and Startup Policy for Students and Faculty (AICTE / MoE) All India Council for Technical Education (Ministry of Education)
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