Sankara Narayanan
The International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology, iCreate is looking for proposals for prototype level projects under the ROUND II for NIDHI–PRAYAS scheme of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India.
National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) is an umbrella program conceived and developed by the Innovation and Entrepreneurship division, Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, for nurturing ideas and innovations (knowledge-based and technology-driven) into successful start ups.
The NIDHI-Promotion and Acceleration of Young and Aspiring technology entrepreneurs (NIDHI-PRAYAS) program, is one of the programs introduced under NIDHI, focuses on addressing the idea to prototype funding gap.
This is a program designed to attract a large number of youngsters to come forward to try out their ideas and try to see if they will work in real life business situations. If selected, such selected applicants are referred to as PRAYASEE’s.
This grant will primarily be utilized by aspiring innovators to convert their ideas into prototype. The period of prototyping support can be up to 18 months.
Who should apply?
- Individual innovator : S/He is required to be an Indian Citizen at least 18 years of age on 1st of August, 2016. An Indian citizen is defined as one who is in possession of a government approved proof of nationality such as a valid passport, voter’s id etc
- Team of individual innovators : If a team wants to pursue the project, then there has to be an agreement among the team about the lead applicant and the lead applicant has to apply for NIDHI-PRAYAS. The financial support (after the selection process) will be given to the lead applicant on behalf of the team.
The current focus areas are manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare, clean-tech, energy, water and Internet of Things (IoT)
Eligibility & Conditions:
- The maximum support that can be provided per innovator / incubatee is upto Rs. 10 lakhs
- The priority areas for supporting innovations under NIDHI-PRAYAS program are manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare, clean-tech, energy, water and Internet of Things (IOT) and other technology areas.
- Suggested areas of focus for applying to iCreate are the use of embedded systems / IoT for:
- Perimeter Security and Surveillance
- Bio – Medical and Healthcare
- Wearable Technology
- Smart Robots
- Machine Learning
- Blockchain
- Augmented Reality / Virtual Reality
- Others
- Preference may be given to those innovators
- Who have bootstrapped or have got co-investment commitment
- Who have clear road map for commercialization or start up creation
- Women innovators
- Young innovators
- Student applicants pursuing long term research projects like doctoral research projects or similar projects will not be supported. Professors or Academicians engaged in teaching with any academic or R&D institute;
- If the innovator is pursuing building a prototype from their institute / organization IP, then in that case innovator will take NOC from the appropriate authority of their institute / organisation for use / IP transfer / ownership in favour of the innovator / start up;
- If the applicant is studying / working in an institute / organization, they should get a no objection certificate from that respective institute/organization for applying to NIDHI- PRAYAS;
- The NIDHI-PRAYAS grantee should be registered for the pre-incubation or incubation program at iCreate for the entire duration of the program, after going through the iCreate’s selection process;
- NIDHI-PRAYAS grantee should be fully committed to work towards the prototype development for which the support is being sought and should not treat this as a stop gap arrangement to support any other pursuits;
- The innovator can avail the NIDHI-PRAYAS support only once and they should not have sought the similar support previously, from other Government of India organisation / Institution for the same innovative concept as proposed in the application form;
Offerings:
- Work space with internet connectivity, will be provided for. On request, hostel accommodation can also be provided
- Access to labs and libraries will also be provided
- Mentorship, Networking, participation in various startup / entrepreneurship based events
- Access to start up ecosystem and residence in a vibrant campus dedicated to start ups / entrepreneurs
- Free access to IoT, embedded and other labs housed within campus
- Food is available at campus at nominal charges
- All the office facilities like internet, meeting rooms, tea, coffee, etc, will be made available
For more details about the program and application process, check Nidhi Prayas Scheme