Making India into a robust digital-driven nation is what this scheme is trying to figure out. Next Generation Incubation Scheme (NGIS) is STPI’s comprehensive incubation scheme which has the vision to drive India digitally, thus making it a Software Product Nation to make India a global player in the development, production and supply of Innovative, Efficient and Secure Software Products.
This will nevertheless facilitate the growth across the entire spectrum of ICT sector as envisioned in the National Policy on Software Products (NPSP) – 2019.
Organized by Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), Bengaluru, which is a software and technology organization, the move is to strengthen the start-up ecosystem through policies, initiatives, and the creation of a 360-degree ecosystem. In the current digital era where technology adoption has been high in the urban, educated and high to mid-income group population, the rural less formally educated and low-income group population is still in the digital inaccessibility group.
The ecosystem trends also clearly highlight that the sectors contributing significantly toward the $1 Tn economies focus on the inaccessibility group. It is also seen that the physically disabled population also forms a significant share of the digital inaccessibility group. The inaccessibility group mostly resides in and around Tier II and III cities therefore the need is for hyper-localized digital products/solutions.
Accordingly, to boost the localized innovations from Tier II & III cities, through CHUNAUTI 4.0 STPI is looking to identify and support promising start-ups working towards digital transformation & accessible products/solutions enabling equitable & inclusive growth with a focus on sectors like Agriculture, Education, Healthcare & Wellness, Banking & Finance, E-commerce, and Environment etc. As in the previous contests, selected start-ups would be given physical infrastructure, funding assistance, access to networks, connections, learning and resources that are needed to build a scalable, profitable and global business.
The eligibility criteria for a start-up to apply to the CHUNAUTI 4.0 program are as follows:
- The challenge invites proposals/applications from Indian startups who are working in a domain related to software product development.
- Start-ups registered with DPIIT under the start-up India programme are encouraged to participate in this programme.
- Individual Academicians, Researchers, Educators, Entrepreneurs, partnership firms, and LLPs may also participate, however, if they are selected then they will have to register as a private limited company within a stipulated time (preferably within 3 months).
Here are some of the areas that will be focused on under this scheme: –
- Agriculture
- Healthcare & Wellness
- Education & Skill Enhancement
- Financial Services
- E-governance Solutions – last-mile online delivery of services to the citizenry.
- Tourism & Hospitality
- Cyber Security
- Supply Chain & Logistics
According to STPI, the selection process will be as follows:
- Designated Committee shall be formed for Screening, Evaluation & Selection.
- All the applications received shall be subject to a rigorous centralized multi-tier screening process with the involvement of appropriate experts from the respective domain and/or location as deemed fit.
- The decision of the designated Committee shall be final & binding on all.
The release from STPI states that the duration of NGIS is for 3 years. However, selected individual beneficiary start-ups can avail benefits of NGIS in three phases Nurture, Develop & market extended over 2 years.
Each beneficiary and supported start-up will be provided with seed funding of up to Rs. 25.00 Lakhs through Financial Institutions. Though it will be selected through CHUNAUTI under NGIS based on innovative ideas, novel solutions, a strong team & sound business proposal. The release also further states that the disbursal of seed funds to start-ups will be based on milestones achieved, periodic reviews and recommendations. Seed funding to start-ups will be against equity participation by STPI or its affiliate.
Start-ups that are in the ideation stage may be selected under a pre-incubation programme & mentored for up to six months to evolve their business plan & solution around the proposed idea. Each intern (max 3 interns per start-up under pre-incubation) will be paid Rs. 10,000/- per month for a period of up to 6 months, accompanied by cloud credits from leading third-party service providers.
About Software Technology Parks of India
Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) is a premier S&T organization under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) engaged in promoting the IT/ITES Industry, innovation, R&D, start-ups, product/IP creation in the field of emerging technologies like IoT, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Computer Vision, Robotics, Robotics Process Automation (RPA), Augmented & Virtual Reality, Animation & Visual effect, Data Science & Analytics for various domains like Gaming, FinTech, Agritech, MedTech, Autonomous Connected Electric & Shared(ACES) Mobility, ESDM, Cyber Security, Industry 4.0, Drone, Efficiency Augmentation, etc.
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