SAMRIDH Scheme: A Complete Guide for Software Product Startups
ZeedFund Team on 1 September 2026
Building a genuinely good software product is only half the battle. The other half, finding the right customers, getting introduced to the right investors, and figuring out how to take that product beyond India's borders, is where even technically excellent startups often stall. Mentorship helps, capital helps more, but the two rarely arrive together in a way that is actually built around a founder's real, immediate needs.
SAMRIDH, Startup Accelerators of MeitY for pRoduct Innovation, Development and growtH, was built to close that exact gap. Launched in August 2021 under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology's National Policy on Software Products 2019, SAMRIDH is a flagship acceleration program with a Rs. 99 crore outlay, aimed at supporting 300 software product startups over four years. Its defining feature is a genuinely rare combination: hands on acceleration support paired directly with matching investment, delivered through a curated national network of established accelerators rather than a single centralized body.
The philosophy behind SAMRIDH is refreshingly practical. Rather than the government trying to accelerate startups itself, it backs organizations that are already good at it, and puts real capital behind their judgment.
The Funding Opportunity: What SAMRIDH Actually Offers
- Matching investment up to Rs. 40 lakh per startup from MeitY, matched by an equal investment from the accelerator or co investor, meaning a selected startup can access equity funding of up to Rs. 80 lakh in total, based on its growth stage and current valuation.
- Acceleration services: beyond capital, selected startups receive structured support in customer connect, investor connect, and internationalization, the three pillars the program is explicitly designed around.
- Investment instrument: funding is typically structured as an equity investment, often via a SAFE, a Simple Agreement for Future Equity, or a similar instrument, with the accelerator taking an equity stake in the startup as part of the arrangement.
- Program duration: selected startups typically go through a structured mentorship and acceleration period, commonly around six months, before or alongside the release of matching investment.
Who is eligible
- Must be a DPIIT registered startup.
- Must be an Indian citizen founded venture, with the applicant having completed 18 years of age at the time of application.
- The startup's core product, service, or business or distribution model should center on electronics or software driven technology.
- Startups are typically onboarded into a cohort with a specific sector focus. Health tech, ed tech, agri tech, consumer tech, fintech, SaaS, and sustainability linked technology have all featured as focus areas across cohorts.
- The startup should already have a working solution and proof of concept. SAMRIDH is built for scaling an existing product, not funding an idea from scratch.
How the process works
- Identify a MeitY empaneled accelerator running an active SAMRIDH cohort. These are announced periodically through open calls for proposals.
- Apply directly to that accelerator's cohort, since accelerators, not MeitY centrally, select the startups they will work with.
- If selected, go through the accelerator's structured mentorship program, covering product market fit, business planning, and investor readiness.
- Upon successful completion and evaluation, eligible startups receive the matching equity investment, up to Rs. 40 lakh from MeitY, matched by the accelerator or co investor.
Since each cohort is run by a different empaneled accelerator with its own specific sector lens and timeline, it is worth researching which accelerator's focus area and network best matches your startup before applying.
The Accelerators Powering SAMRIDH
SAMRIDH works through a nationally distributed network of accelerators, government supported organizations, academic institutions, private sector accelerators, and early stage funding platforms, selected through open calls for proposals. A few of the accelerators currently running SAMRIDH cohorts include:
Live Funding Opportunities
The program's first cohort alone included 22 accelerators spread across 12 states supporting 175 startups, and subsequent cohorts have continued expanding that footprint. Institutions like the Atal Incubation Centre at BIMTECH have used SAMRIDH to channel meaningful funding into their portfolio startups, with some cohorts producing multiple funded companies from a single accelerator's network, a sign of how much the specific accelerator you land with shapes the outcome.
SAMRIDH Impact So Far
According to figures published by MeitY, the SAMRIDH programme has supported 373 startups to date, already surpassing its original four year target of 300, and continues running through structured cohorts of roughly 8 to 10 startups each. Sectors represented across cohorts span health tech and fintech alongside the broader software product categories the scheme was built around, reflecting how the accelerator network approach has let the program scale faster than a single centralized body likely could have.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does SAMRIDH fund idea stage startups?
No. SAMRIDH is built for startups that already have a working solution and demonstrated proof of concept. It is a scaling and growth acceleration program, not an early prototyping grant like PRISM or NIDHI PRAYAS.
Do I apply to MeitY directly?
No. Startups apply to individual MeitY empaneled accelerators running SAMRIDH cohorts, not to MeitY or MeitY Startup Hub directly. The accelerators handle selection and, subsequently, disbursement of matching funds.
Will I have to give up equity?
Yes. SAMRIDH funding is structured as an equity investment, and the accelerator typically takes an equity stake as part of the matching investment arrangement. This is not a grant.
How competitive is SAMRIDH?
Each cohort typically onboards a relatively small number of startups, often in the range of five to ten per accelerator per cohort, out of a much larger applicant pool, so preparation and a strong existing product matter significantly.
The Bottom Line
SAMRIDH occupies a genuinely useful middle ground in India's startup funding landscape. It is built for founders who have already proven their product works and now need the two things that usually determine whether a good product becomes a successful company: capital and the right connections. For software product startups ready to scale beyond their first customers, finding the right SAMRIDH empaneled accelerator could be one of the more efficient paths to both funding and market access.