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:
- : Up to Rs.25 lakh
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 25 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
- Investment amount: Up to Rs 25 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