Fisheries Startup Grand Challenge

The Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying (MoFAH&D) in association with Startup India, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry inaugurated the Fisheries Startup Grand Challenge. Fisheries Startup Grand Challenge urged the entrepreneur of India to use the Grand Challenge as a platform to showcase their solutions for resolving Fisheries and Aquaculture sectoral challenges. The selected 12 winners of the challenge will be awarded a cash grant of Rs 2.00 Lakh each to 10 shortlisted start-ups for translating their ‘Idea to PoC’.

The objective of the Fisheries Startup Grand Challenge

The challenge has been launched with an objective to provide a platform to start-ups within the country to showcase their innovative solutions within the Fisheries and Aquaculture sector.

Features of the Fisheries Startup Grand Challenge

Fisheries Startup Grand Challenge urged the entrepreneur of India to use the Grand Challenge as a platform to showcase their solutions for resolving the Fisheries and Aquaculture sector
The solutions should be devised for resolving issues across the fisheries value chain for increasing aquaculture productivity from the current national average of 3 tons to 5 tons per hectare, doubling exports earnings and reducing post-harvest losses from 25% to 10%.
The challenge is expected to foster start-up culture within the sector and to establish a strong foundation of the entrepreneurial model, the Department of Fisheries has earmarked funds to the tune of Rs. 3.44 Crore for the challenge.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria to apply for the Fisheries Startup Grand Challenge is listed as follows:

The Fisheries Startup Grand challenge is open to DPIIT recognized Startups working in the areas indicated in the problem statements
The Startup should have a minimum viable product or service with a market fit, viable commercialization, and scope of scaling

Eligible Startups

The following type of startups can apply for the Fisheries Startup Grand Challenge.

Ideation Stage Startup
Validation Stage Startup
Early Traction Startup
Scaling Stage Startup

Incentives Offered

The Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying (MoFAH&D) will offer the following type of benefit to the selected startups:

Fiscal Incentives

The selected 12 winners of the challenge will be awarded a cash grant of Rs 2.00 Lakh each to 10 shortlisted start-ups for translating their ‘Idea to PoC
Incubation Support will be provided to 10 selected startups for 9 months

Non-Fiscal Incentives

The Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying (MoFAH&D) will offer Masterclasses for shortlisted startups

Special Incentives

The Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying (MoFAH&D) will provide a Seed Grant of INR 2.5 Crore under the larger umbrella of DoF’s flagship scheme, Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana PMMSY. This seed grant will be offered to 10 startups. As per the PMMSY guidelines, Govt assistance of upto Rs 20 lakhs for the general category or upto Rs 30 lakhs for the SC/ST/Women category will be provided against a unit cost of Rs 50 lakhs, subject to the condition that they mobilize the remaining funds (beneficiary contribution) i.e is upto INR 30 Lakhs (Gen Category) or INR 20 Lakhs (SC/ST/Women Category) – assuming the unit cost of INR 50 lakhs. Note: It is encouraged that Startups may mobilize beneficiary contributions from angel investors or venture capitalists or any other investment sources in the startup ecosystem.

Themes for challenges

The following themes have been identified for the submission of problem statements under the Fisheries Start-up Grand Challenge.

Design and develop technology/solutions for enhancing productivity so that the fishers & fish farmers can achieve better price realization
Develop infrastructure and post-harvest management solutions that will enable fishers, fish farmers in creating value addition, value creation, and value realization ensuring minimal wastage across the fisheries value chain
Develop business solutions and outreach activities that will make fish and fish products easily accessible, acceptable and popular among the meat consuming population in the country
Develop sustainable solutions to reduce/stop soil erosion, siltation of the water bodies, and develop eco-friendly solutions for costal fishers

TimeLine of Fisheries Startup Grand Challenge

Application Opens	13^th January 2022
Deadline to Apply	26^th February 2022
Application Result Date	28^th March 2022

Fisheries Startup Grand Challenge - Application Procedure

The Startup Grand Challenge Applications will be open from 13^th January 2022 to 26^th February 2022. The applicant is required to access the official webpage of Startup India.

From the home page click on the Programs option and then select View all active programs.
By clicking on the Challenges from the new page, the list of active Challenges will be displayed. Click on the Fisheries Startup Grand Challenge, the link will redirect to a new page.
Click on the apply now option; the Startup India login page will be displayed. The existing users of Startup India can log in to the portal to apply for the program.
New users need to register on the portal to get the user credential. By clicking on the register now option, the applicant can provide all mandatory details for registration.

Evaluation of startups to be undertaken once applications are closed.