The Ministry of IT will provide financial and mentoring support to 125 startups at an early stage of development

NEW DELHIThe IT Ministry announced the second edition of the startup accelerator on Thursday, under which 125 early-stage startups selected and supported by potential accelerators will receive financial support and mentoring.

The last date for submitting applications for the Startup Accelerators of MeitY for Product Innovation, Development and Growth (SAMRIDH) programme is October 2.

The first cohort included 22 accelerators from 12 states through open applications. These accelerators then selected 5-10 startups each in areas focused on healthtech, edtech, agtech, consumertech, fintech, software as a service (SaaS), and sustainability through a multi-tiered selection process.

The second edition is part of the government’s 100-day program to select and support 125 startups through potential accelerators, with a goal of supporting 300 startups.

MeitY said it is working towards the development of the Indian software industry under the National Software Products Policy (NPSP)-2019.

The SAMRIDH programme, which was launched in August 2021, aims to support 300 software product startups with an outlay of Rs 990 million over a period of four years.

The programme is implemented by MeitY Start-up Hub (MSH) and Digital India Corporation (DIC).

“The SAMRIDH programme is being implemented through potential and existing accelerators across India that provide services like product-market customisation, business planning, investor networking and international expansion of startups, along with matching funding of up to Rs 40 lakh crore through MeitY,” the government said.

According to the ministry, the country’s software industry, including startups, is supported through various programs such as the Center of Excellence, Technology Incubation and Entrepreneur Development (TIDE) program, Next Generation Incubation Program (NGIS), ICT Grand Challenges, Gen-Next Support for Innovative Startups (GENESIS), etc.