STPI To Back 25 Startups Under LEAP Ahead 2.0

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SUMMARY

STPI will be funding 25 startups from Tier II and III cities under the second edition of LEAP Ahead.

The government will provide funding support of up to INR 50 Lakh to startups, depending on the performance.

Notably, startups selected in the previous cohort have already received commitments of INR 78 Cr

Government backed Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) will be funding 25 startups from Tier II and III cities under the second edition of LEAP Ahead.

As per PTI report, the government will provide funding support of up to INR 50 Lakh to startups, depending on the performance.

“We will provide a commitment of investment of up to INR 1 Cr where STPI will provide an initial fund of INR 25 Lakh and then a follow-on funding of up to another INR 25 Lakh. Besides funding, startups will receive multiple other support including mentorship,” said director general Arvind Kumar.

He further added that the startups selected in the previous cohort have already received commitments of INR 78 Cr and 17 startups have received investment of up to INR 38 Cr.

Notably, he said that 3 out of 25 startups, which went to the TiE Silicon Valley, have received investments from three foreign investors.

The government recently informed that it has backed more than 10,000 tech startups through various schemes and programmes in the last five years.

Of this, the Centre has disbursed INR 580 Cr via incubators– including 3,600+ tech startups supported by the Ministry of Electronics Technology (MeitY), which spent INR 212 Cr.

Meanwhile, via Fund of Fund For Startups (FFS), the government committed INR 10,500+ Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), resulting in total investment of INR 18,000 Cr in startups by the end of FY24.

Launched in 2016, the FFS was aimed at providing a boost to the Indian startup ecosystem and increasing capital inflows into the space.

This comes after MeitY recently floated the expression of interest (EoI) for the second cohort of its Startup Accelerator of MeitY for Product Innovation, Development, and Growth (SAMRIDH) scheme.

MeitY has now sought applications till October 2 from existing and upcoming accelerators to offer incubation services to startups. Under this, the ministry will partner with selected accelerators to offer one-to-one matching funding support of up to INR 40 Lakhs to startups.