A grant is non-dilutive and equity-free capital typically awarded for prototyping or R&D, which does not need to be repaid. A fund represents direct equity investments, co-investment programs, or low-interest soft loans designed for scaling operations. A subsidy is a retrospective reimbursement of operational expenses, such as state IP filings, compliance audits, or incubator rentals.
Eligibility requirements vary, but most programs require DPIIT Recognition from Startup India and incorporation as a Private Limited, LLP, or Partnership. Sector-specific schemes (like AgriTech or Biotech) require industry-aligned prototypes, while state grants demand that primary operations reside in the sponsor territory.
No, grants and subsidies do not need to be repaid if the startup fails, provided the capital was spent in accordance with the utilization guidelines agreed upon. You are required to submit audit reports demonstrating that funds were allocated to prototyping, compliance, or validation milestones.
Standard documents include your Certificate of Incorporation, DPIIT Recognition certificate, company PAN, pitch deck, and recent financial statements or bank audits. Having these pre-uploaded in your Application Repository makes applying to multiple schemes significantly faster.
Our team scans government bulletins, ministry notifications, and innovation challenge trackers weekly. Active schemes show deadlines and status tags in real time, though we always suggest clicking the direct apply links to check for sudden state extensions or closures.
No, StartupFund is an independent, private information directory. We are not run by or affiliated with any government department, Ministry, or state program. Our goal is strictly to consolidate and simplify funding discovery for Indian founders.
You can set up your candidate profile with your startup's state, sector, stage, and founder details. The platform then calculates dynamic match scores for every listing, highlighting regions or sector requirements that align with your background.