Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, operating under the Centre for Research on Start-ups and Risk Financing (CREST), have introduced an ‘Intelligence Platform on Government Funding Schemes for Start-ups’ aimed at enhancing the startup sector. This collaborative effort involved YNOS, a startup incubated at IIT Madras.
The government funding platform for startups serves as a centralised hub that aggregates various government-backed startup schemes and makes them easily accessible to entrepreneurs. The platform was meticulously developed after years of research and data collection by a team led by Professor Thillai Rajan, Principal Investigator of CREST and is associated with the faculty of the Department of Management Studies at IIT Madras.
The portal serves as a valuable resource for entrepreneurs, offering a comprehensive overview of the government funding landscape tailored to startups. It incorporates information on numerous startup-related schemes offered by the central government, central public sector companies, and various state governments, encompassing over 100 distinct programs from different agencies.
As reported by India Today, the platform provides contact details and links to social media profiles for each scheme, enabling entrepreneurs to gather more information if they express interest. Entrepreneurs can also easily access detailed reports on individual schemes with a simple click.
Professor A Thillai Rajan, Principal Investigator of CREST, and faculty, Department of Management Studies, IIT Madras commented, “The motivation for developing this platform was driven by the information challenges faced by entrepreneurs and other stakeholders of the Indian start-up ecosystem. Information was scattered, not easily accessible, and did not address the needs of the stakeholders. CREST, an Institute of Eminence Research Centre of IIT Madras, chose to demonstrate its global research leadership by addressing this national challenge. The result was the creation of a global standard intelligence platform in the Indian start-up ecosystem that addressed the information challenges faced by early-stage entrepreneurs”.
