Funds for start-ups offering indigenous solutions to Covid crisis 

By Express News Service

NEW DELHI:  As a rapid response to support startup-driven solutions for tackling the challenging second wave of Covid-19 in the country, the Central government has decided to provide financial backing to Indian startups and companies for developing new technologies and innovative products.

NIDHI4COVID2.0, the new initiative, will fund eligible India-registered startups and companies offering promising solutions in the thrust areas of oxygen innovation, portable solution, relevant medical accessories, diagnostic, informatics, or any other solution that addresses various challenges due to the impact of Covid-19. 

The initiative is a special drive of the National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India (GoI) for supporting indigenous solutions to combat the current health crisis.

 Indigenous development and manufacturing of spare parts that are currently being imported for devices like oxygen concentrators would also be considered for Seed Support. Promising startups will be provided with financial and mentoring support for scaling up their products/technologies to the next level and speeding up their processes, helping them reach the product deployment stage as fast as possible. 

This initiative has been built based on NSTEDB’s past experience of implementing Centre for Augmenting WAR with Covid-19 Health Crisis (CAWACH).  “Supporting development of devices also brings with it opportunities in the development of several critical components that are being imported such as zeolite materials, gas sensors, etc which have wider applications,” said Prof Ashutosh Sharma, secretary, DST.