NIDHI-PRAYAS 2.0 - PRAYAS Centre Grant
Up to Rs 20 lakh prototype grant over a maximum 15 months, open to an individual innovator with no company, applied for at a PRAYAS Centre; pure software, app and service projects are excluded.
What you get
“Upto Rs 20 lakhs OR 40 lakhs* Prototype funding support. *subject to application and selection under PC or APC. Applicants who have not received funding under NIDHI PRAYAS 1.0 or 2.0 are eligible to apply at both a PRAYAS Centre (PC) (up to ₹20 lakh) and at an APC (up to ₹40 lakh).”
Can you apply
Individual Innovator: Innovator without having a startup can apply for PRAYAS grant. Must demonstrate clear ownership (or licensed right to use) of any intellectual property underpinning the proposed prototype. Applicant innovator must be at least eighteen (18) years of age on the date of application. Proof of age and Indian citizenship (e.g., valid passport, Aadhar or Voter ID) will be required at the time of submission. If the applicant innovator works in a team with other innovators there has to be an agreement among the team about the lead innovator who would apply, and the funds will be transferred to the lead innovator's account (after selection). IP generated would vest with the innovator or with the team as per the agreement. Not be considered under NIDHI-PRAYAS: Projects related to Pure Software development, e-Commerce, Service solutions, App based solutions. Funding research or student internship in Academic institutions or R&D organisations.
When
Always open, applications reviewed on a rolling basis.
What Department of Science and Technology - NIDHI funds
India's science ministry programme for developing and harnessing innovations. NIDHI-PRAYAS gives individual innovators and early stage startups prototype funding through a network of PRAYAS Centres hosted at technology business incubators, and is the rare central scheme an unincorporated individual can apply to.
Everything Department of Science and Technology - NIDHI funds →Details
The standard NIDHI-PRAYAS 2.0 tier. Applicants apply to one of the PRAYAS Centres hosted at technology business incubators rather than to DST directly, and each centre's monitoring committee decides the final amount. The scheme is aimed squarely at physical prototypes, which rules out most pure AI software work; AI-hardware is named as a national priority area under the Advance PRAYAS Centre tier. Individual innovators receive funds into the lead innovator's own account and keep the IP.