IT ministry has launched a competition called “Chunauti” to boost tech startups in India. Startups engaged in the field of software development can participate and selected startup would get incubation support as well as seed funding support up to 25 lakhs.
The initiative is launched to provide solutions to the challenges being faced amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The challenge has been launched under the Next Generation Incubation Scheme (NGIS), a comprehensive incubation scheme by the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) to drive India’s rise as a global leader in software products. The government of India has set aside 95.03 crores for funding the startups for 3 years.
The government will provide incubation support, financial support, and mentorship at least 300 startups. The challenge is open for startups working in domains related to software product development, as well as individual academicians, researchers, educators, entrepreneurs, partnership firms, and LLPs. It also looking for supply chain-related solutions, and solutions on remote monitoring, linguistic tools, healthcare and psychological care, jobs, and skilling related solutions. In addition to the financial support, the government will provide security testing facilities, access to venture capitalist funding, and advisories in legal and patent matters. It is backed by the Software Technology Park of India centers.
In recent times the government has launched a lot of innovation programs for supporting local startups as part of Aatmanirbhar Bharat. These initiatives will encourage Indian startups and they can grow as to the international level. Since the Covid-19 pandemic began and the border clash with China, this becomes at least the fourth start-up challenge the IT ministry has launched to encourage local entrepreneurs to innovate in line with PM Modi’s call for a self-reliant India. It also launched the ‘AatmaNirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge’ for business-related solutions, eLearning, entertainment, games, health, news, office, and work from home, and social. The government received 6940 applications from nine categories.
The government is providing all the support financially as well as in other ways such as mentorship programs and monthly monetary support. Indian startups also expecting more investment from outside India. Recent investment in Indian Edu-tech firms like Baijus and Unacademey underlines the scope of Indian tech startups in the international market.
