Seed Capital Fund Scheme (SISFS)

Seed Capital Fund Scheme: The scheme aims to provide startups with financial assistance at their early stages such as proof of concept, prototyping, product trials, market entry and commercialization.

Once a startup gets access to capital at the early stage, it improves the potential for the enterprise to scale to a level where funding can be sought from angel investors, venture capital firms, Banks and other financial institutions.

The Startup India initiative of the Government of India envisages building a robust Start-up ecosystem in the country for nurturing innovation and providing opportunities to budding entrepreneurs.

Seed Capital Fund Scheme

One of NITI Aayog’s leaders, Ms. Anna Roy, stated during the ceremony that the recently published WEP will serve as a gateway for Indian women to enter the world of entrepreneurship. The country as a whole will gain power as a result, and in the near future, we may witness a vibrant new India.

Women are recommended to register on the WEP’s official portal in order to take advantage of all the benefits provided by the program, as the implementation of the WEP has created a bottleneck scenario for women entering the corporate world.

With an investment of INR 945 crore, DPIIT established the Seed Capital Fund Scheme (SISFS) to give entrepreneurs funding for Proof of Concept, prototype development, product trials, market entry, and commercialization.With 300 incubators, it will help an estimated 3,600 businesses over the course of the next four years.

Seed Capital Fund Scheme (PURPOSE)

To provide finance to eligible candidates sponsored by JKEDI under the Seed Capital Fund Scheme of Government of Jammu & Kashmir.

Finance under this product shall be available to trained and registered first generation entrepreneurs sponsored by the JKEDI under the Seed Capital Fund Scheme to start environment-friendly ventures relating to certain core areas of the state economy which inter-alia shall include:-

i) Cultivation of horticulture, floriculture, cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants;

ii) Food-processing at the household/village level;

iii) Establishment of facilities for storage of food products/horticulture products: particularly cold chains;

iv) Handloom, handicrafts and other artisanal products: particularly design improvement, technology-transfer and marketing;

v) Ventures in Poultry, Sheep-breeding and production, mushroom cultivation, bee keeping, Dairy farming, aimed at import substitution;

vi) Setting up of computer literacy/training institutes in villages/habitations particularly with a population of less than 3000 souls;

vii) Setting up of Fair Price Shops at small habitations across the State;

viii) Health services unit/dental care units set up by doctors;

ix) Pathological labs including diagnostic facilities set up by doctors/trained professionals;

x). Services industry units engaged in maintenance ,repairing, testing of both electrical and electronic equipments/ instruments, services of all types of vehicles and machinery including TV’s, Radio’s, transformers, motors, etc. set up by technically qualified persons such as Engineers or trained entrepreneurs;

xi) Servicing and supply of components/parts of agricultural farm equipments/machinery items such as tractors, pumps, boring machines ,etc., set up by Engineers or technically trained entrepreneurs.

xii) Tailoring and boutique units set up by educated and trained entrepreneurs;

xiii) Tourism-related enterprises covering houseboat owners, setting up of Paying Guest facilities, small dhabas and restaurants with a capacity of 20 seats.

xiv) All the above activities as approved by JKEDI or any other economically viable activity as may be approved by JKEDI;

In addition to the above mentioned activities following activities have been included .

1. Wholesale Distribution of Medicines, food items, ice-creams with specific upper limit cap.
2. Sub-dealership activities like selling of automobiles /electronic items/mobile phones /branded clothes/cement/iron/building material.
3. Activities with working Capital of more than 20 lacs (twenty lacs only) as per requirement.
4. Pre-booking of tickets in bulk in tours and travels activities.
5. Import Export activities.
6. Software Development activities.
7. E-Commerce and Franchise activities.

Seed Capital Fund Scheme (Objectives)

Insufficient finance during the seed and “Proof of Concept” development stages plagues the Indian startup ecosystem. For businesses with strong business concepts, the money needed at this point frequently means the difference between success and failure.

The lack of this crucial funding at the outset is a major factor in the failure of many creative business concepts that are intended to prove of concept, produce prototypes, conduct product testing, enter markets, and go commercial. Offering seed money to such exceptional examples can have a compounding effect on the validation of other companies’ business concepts, resulting in the creation of jobs.

Eligibility For Seed Capital Fund Scheme

Startups:

1. A startup, recognized by DPIIT, incorporated not more than 2 years ago at the time of application.
2. A startup applicant can avail seed support in the form of grant and debt/convertible debentures each once as per the guidelines of the scheme.
3. To create a good product or service with market fit, feasible commercialisation, and room to grow, a startup needs a solid business plan.
4. Technology should be included into the startup’s main offering, business plan, distribution strategy, and approach to address the issue at hand.
5. Innovative solutions in the following areas would be prioritized: energy, mobility, defense, space, railroads, oil and gas, textiles, education, agriculture, food processing, waste management, water management, financial inclusion, and biotechnology.
6. Startup should not have been eligible for any other Central or State Government scheme that provided more than Rs 10 lakh in financial support. Prize money from contests and grand challenges, subsidized workspace, a monthly stipend for the founder, lab access, and prototype facilities are not included in this.
7. According to the Companies Act of 2013 and the SEBI (ICDR) Regulations of 2018, the startup’s Indian promoters must own at least 51% of the company’s shares at the time of application to the incubator for the scheme.

Incubators:

1. The incubator must be a legal entity:
   – A society registered under the Societies Registration Act 1860, or
   – A Trust registered under the Indian Trusts Act 1882, or
   – A Private Limited company registered under the Companies Act 1956 or the Companies Act 2013, or
   – A statutory body created through an Act of the legislature
2. When submitting an application for the program, the incubator must have been running for a minimum of two years.
3. The incubator needs to have enough space to accommodate at least 25 people.
4. On the application date, the incubator must have at least five businesses going through physical incubation.
5. The incubator needs a full-time CEO with experience in business development and entrepreneurship, backed by a competent team that helps companies with finance, legal, and human resources tasks in addition to testing and validating ideas.
6. The incubator shouldn’t use funds from any outside private organization to distribute seed money to incubatees.
7. The incubator has to have received support from the federal or state government(s).
8. If neither the federal government nor any state government has provided assistance to the incubator:

– The incubator must be operational for at least three years
– Must have at least 10 separate startups undergoing incubation in the incubator physically on the date of application
– Must present audited annual reports for the last 2 years

Key points of the Seed Capital Fund Scheme

• 3600 Startups expected to benefit from SISFS.
• 300 Virtual Incubators to be promoted for supporting startups.
• INR 945 crore corpus divided over 4 years, starting FY2021-22, to be disbursed through eligible incubators.
• Year-round ‘Call for Applications’ for Incubators and Startups.
• Sector-agnostic.
• No mandatory physical incubation.
• PAN-India startup programme.
• Startups can apply to 3 incubators simultaneously.

Disclaimer:

• Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry has not appointed any Agency/Representative/ Franchise for DPIIT Certificate of Recognition for Startups.
• Application for Startup India Certificate of Recognition should be filed by the Startup on its own, using own details/ mobile No./ email.
• Ministry of Commerce and Industry does not charge any fee for DPIIT Certificate of Recognition for Startups.
• Any charging of fees for Recognition for Startups is illegal and will invite appropriate legal action.