Goa Startup Policy

One of India's biggest strengths is the demographic richness of the country. However, this can be leveraged only when an appropriate ecosystem is formed and made accessible to the youth to meaningfully deploy their energies, skills and incredible talents towards the growth and the economic development of the nation. Therefore, facilitating entrepreneurship is a moral imperative for the Government of Goa to increase value and job creation. As a result, the Goan Government has come up with the Goa Startup Policy which aims to unleash economic opportunities across the State of Goa.

Overview

The Government is committed to inviting the brightest entrepreneurial and technology minds from outside the State to build a robust startup ecosystem within the State while being committed to promoting entrepreneurs from Goa and generating employment opportunities for Goans. Depending on the changing dynamics of the technology industry, human capital, entrepreneurs and other aspects linked to the startup ecosystem, the Goa Startup Policy would keep evolving and would remain proactively responsive to bring Goa on top of the startup game.

Vision of the Policy

The vision of the Goa Startup Policy is the following.

"To transform Goa into the most preferred startup destinations in the country, and to make it to the top 25 startup destinations in Asia by the year 2025."

Objectives of the Policy

The following are the key objectives of the Goa Startup Policy.

To turn Goa into an aspirational geographical and human resources base to accommodate high-value startups.
To bring the best entrepreneurial minds to Goa to set up their professional base in the State, and thereby building a robust startup ecosystem within the State.
To offer assistance to Goan entrepreneurs and local startups.
To endeavour and create a minimum of 100 successful startups in the State over the next 5 years and targeting the generation of employment for at least 5000 Goans.
To develop a minimum of 2 Lakh Sq. Ft. of the area for technological innovation and incubation centres within the next 5 years.
To integrate technologically-enabled real-world problem-solving skills along with the education system in Goa by collaborating with Academia and Industry through the introduction of Do-It-Yourself modules as a part of the school curriculum, and Massive Online Open Courses in the University Curriculum.
To create an ecosystem that would make it easy for Goan students to gain and improve technical skills that are essential for employability and professional growth in the startup world.
To ensure the continuous evolution of policy measures and the creation of a responsive policy framework for the acceleration of growth of the startup ecosystem, and incorporating newer frontiers of technology enablement on an on-going basis.
To facilitate the creation of dedicated funds to provide various kinds of support and impetus to startups like the following.
- Idea to P-o-C (Proof of Concept) Fund
- Working Capital Fund
- Seeds Capital Fund
- One-time Grant Fund
- Student Innovation Fund
- Research and Development Fund
- Skill Development Fund

Financial Incentives

The Goan Government has the intention to actively support the setting-up, operations and growth of eligible start-ups hailing from Goa through the various incentives listed below. Through the online single-window portal, the cell receives, approves and disburses the following incentives under this policy.

For land, developed area purchase, leased by startups, incubators and developers, the stamp duty for land, built up area lease and sale transaction for startups would not exceed INR 100, while the excess amount paid would be reimbursed. This incentive is available only once in the lifetime of a startup.
Development of green/ brown field accelerators and incubators with dedicated facilities either in the form of fully functional or semi-functional office spaces for start-ups would be eligible for loans for infrastructure development equalling the contribution of the promoters with a limit of INR 1 Crore.
Every startup in Goa would be eligible for the interest subsided loans from the Government.
A maximum of 3 projects would be eligible for a grant of 30% of the loan interest amount, for repayment of the interest component of a loan availed, with a limit of INR 5 Lakhs per annum for the first two years. Other startups may avail an interest repayment grant of 10% of the interest amount of a loan availed with a limit of INR 2 Lakhs per annum for two years.
Startups that raise funds from a registered funding source before the product launch phase would be offered 25% of the matching funds at proportionate ownership of stock, after due diligence and at the discretion of the cell.
Startups with an effective Minimum Viable Product may receive a one-time grant of upto INR 10 Lakhs, as determined by the cell.
For startups registering patents, the cell would reimburse up to 50% of the cost incurred by the startup related to fees and all other expenses associated with the patent application if the patent is registered successfully. This is subject to a cap of INR 2 Lakhs for national patents and INR 5 Lakhs for international patents.
For startups which have entered the production delivery phase, 50% of the cost of trademark registration for the company's name and logo would be reimbursed.
For startups hiring local talent, 50% of the salary for freshers would be reimbursed with a cap of INR 10,000 per month per recruit. For startups whose workforce comprise of 60% of locals, a grant of upto 25% of the salary of the local workforce would be reimbursed.
Costs of internet connectivity, software license fee, and cloud services fee with a cap of INR 1 Lakh would be reimbursed for startups that operate from their premises without Government developed facilities. Such local startups would be provided with a lease rental subsidy of upto INR 20 per sq. ft. per month for 2 years with a cap of INR 3 Lakhs per annum.
To promote innovation among startups, 50% of the R&D expenses including the salaries of PhD holders employed by startups would be reimbursed for two years with a limit of INR 5 Lakhs per annum. The salary component should not exceed more than INR 2 Lakhs in this incentive.
Continuous availability of funds for smooth and uninterrupted operationalisation of this policy is ensured by making and transferring adequate budgetary provision into respective fund heads, through which these incentives would be disbursed by the cell to the beneficiaries.
Requirements of every Government Department for IT solutions would be routed centrally through an agency nominated for this purpose. The agency, so nominated, shall necessarily outsource a minimum of 50% of the anticipated requirements with respect to the total estimated contract value, to Goan Start-ups only.

Infrastructure for Accelerators and Incubators

To promote startups and incubators in the State of Goa, the Government has strived to develop world-class infrastructure through the following models.

Government Developed Incubators
Privately Run Incubators
Incubation within Government Leased Space
Incubators within Educational Institutes

Company Registration

OPC Registration