NIDHI Program

07-09-2024

06:30 PM

1 min read

Prelims: Government Schemes

Overview:

Recently, the union Minister of Science and Technology virtually inaugurated 8 new NIDHI i-TBIs across India along with a new DST-NIDHI Website at IIT Delhi celebrating 8 years of Department of Science and Technology’s initiative (DST-NIDHI).

About NIDHI Programme:

The National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing innovations (NIDHI) program was launched in 2016.
It is an umbrella programme conceived and developed by the Innovation & Entrepreneurship division, Department of Science & Technology.
Aim: To nurture start-ups through scouting, supporting and scaling innovations.
Key stakeholders: Various departments and ministries of the central government, state governments, academic and R & D institutions, mentors, financial institutions, angel investors, venture capitalists and private sectors.
Funding: It is funded by the National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB).
Key Components of the Program
- The NIDHI- PRAYAS (Promoting and Accelerating Young and Aspiring Innovators and Startups) program at Proof-of-Concept level provides mentoring and financial support to innovator for converting their ideas into prototypes.
- NIDHI Entrepreneurs-In-Residence (EIR) Program provides fellowships to the students opting for entrepreneurship.
- The NIDHI Seed Support Program provisions availability of early-stage seed support funding to startups and the NIDHI Accelerator program speeds up the investment readiness of the startups.
- The NIDHI program has been helpful in creating state-of-the art infrastructure for incubating startups in technology sectors through Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) and Centres of Excellence (CoE).
- NIDHI Accelerator: An accelerator is typically a 3-6 months fast track structured program helping ideas get accelerated to the next orbit.

What are i-Technology Business Incubators (i-TBIs)?

i-TBIs (Inclusive TBI) is a three years duration initiative Supported by DST for educational institutions who are likely to foster innovation and entrepreneurship culture among the students, faculties, entrepreneurs, and nearby communities.

Q1: What is Startup India Initiative?

It is a flagship initiative of the Government of India intended to catalyse start-up culture with the objective of supporting entrepreneurs, building a robust startup ecosystem and transforming India into a country of job creators instead of job seekers.

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