National Startup Awards 2022

Startup India has announced National Startup Awards 2022 which seek to recognize and reward outstanding startups and ecosystem enablers that have demonstrated exceptional capabilities not just in terms of financial gains but also for the measurable impact on society. This third edition of the National Startup Award is inviting applications across 17 sectors 50 sub-sectors and 7 special Categories startups. The present article briefs the procedure to apply for the National Startup Awards 2022

The objective of the National Startup Awards

The primary objective of the National Startup Awards 2022 is to recognize and reward outstanding Startups with high potential for employment generation or wealth creation, demonstrating measurable social impact.

National Startup Awards 2022 also aims to cover flagship schemes launched by the Government of India through innovations in corresponding areas, thereby solving community problems at large
NSA 2022 will also focus on ESG practices, climate change, and other sustainability initiatives such as blue economy, green economy, sustainable tourism, digitization, etc.

The National Startup Awards 2022 aims to look beyond the traditional thought process of measuring the success of a startup i.e., funding, financial gains for investors, etc. to parameters such as a benefit for the society, solving a key problem with some innovative solution, developing some innovative solution which is a paradigm shift in the approach in the sector/ sub-sector and creation of jobs (direct and indirect) in the country.

Benefits Offered

The benefits of applying National Startup Awards 2022, is as follows:

The winning startup founders will get a cash prize
The winner and the finalists shall be allowed to present their solutions to relevant public authorities and corporate for potential pilot projects and work-orders
The winners and finalists shall be given priority for participation in various national and international startup events sponsored by DPIIT
The recognized entities will benefit from national-level recognition
The recognized entities being able to attract more business, financing, partnerships, and talent
The winning startup will serve as a role model for other entities and budding entrepreneurs
To inspire budding entrepreneurs to be purposeful and responsible about their socio-economic impact

Eligible Sectors for Startups

Startups from the following sectors and sub-sectors can apply for National Startup Awards 2022

Sl.No	Sector	Sub - Sectors
1	Agriculture	Irrigation Productivity Post-harvest Farmer engagement and education
2	Animal Husbandry and Dairy	Productivity
3	Construction	Materials Construction technologies (including planning and monitoring)
4	Drinking-Water	Access to potable drinking water
5	Education & Skill Development	Access to institutional education Access to open education Teacher training Toys as a learning resource Vocational training
6	Energy	Clean energy Energy Efficiency Energy Storage
7	Enterprise Technology	Business process management Customer relationship management Logistics management
8	Environment	Waste to value Sanitation Sustainable Industrial Solutions
9	Fintech	Insurance Financial inclusion Financial literacy
10	Food Processing	Processing (excluding meat processing) Meat Processing (including Fisheries) Packaging and retailing
11	Health & Wellness	Access to healthcare Diagnostics Life sciences Medical devices including affordable point of care Ayurveda, Yoga, and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy (AYUSH) Fitness and Sports Mental well being
12	Industry 4.0	Internet of Things 3D printing Augmented reality products/wearables Computer vision Robotics
13	Media & Entertainment	Gaming Animation Production and post-production
14	Security	Security & safety systems Cyber security
15	Space	Space technologies (including launch vehicles, applications, spacecraft technologies)
16	Transport	Transport services and infrastructure Freight & logistics services
17	Travel	Hospitality Travel planning and discovery

Special categories of Awards

As part of the National Startup Awards 2022, Special categories of Awards will be provided to the following type of Startups.

Women-led startups
Impact in rural areas
Campus startup
Manufacturing excellence
Innovation tackling the pandemic (preventive, diagnostic, therapeutic, monitoring, digital connect, work from home solutions, etc.)
Solution delivery or business operations in Indic languages
Startups from North-East (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura) and Hilly States/ UT (Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, and Uttarakhand)
Incubators
Accelerators

Startup Incubators and Accelerators – Know the Difference

Details of Awards

Following prizes that shall be awarded to Startups, Incubators, and Accelerators

Prize for Startups

A cash prize of INR 5 lakhs shall be awarded to one winning startup in each of the subsectors

As mentioned above, the winner and the finalists shall be allowed to present their solutions to relevant public authorities and corporates for potential pilot projects and work-orders
The winners and finalists shall be given priority for participation in various national and international startup events sponsored by DPIIT

Prize for Incubators

A cash prize of INR 15 lakhs shall be awarded to one winning Incubator

Prize for Accelerators

A cash prize of INR 15 lakhs shall be awarded to one winning Accelerator

Eligibility Criteria for National Startups Award

Eligibility Criteria for applying National Startups Award is as follows:

Eligibility Criteria for Startups

The startup should be a DPIIT recognized startup
The entity must have a hardware or software product or a process solution that is present in the market.
The entity must have all applicable trade trade-specific registrations (example: CE, FSSAI, MSME, GST Registration, etc.
There should not have been any default in the last three years (FY 2018-19, 19-20, 20-21) by the entity or any of its promoters or any of their group

Startups that are less than a year old and do not have audited financials will be exempt from the awards

Eligibility Criteria for Incubators

The incubator should be structured as an independent entity - a company, a public trust, or a society.
The incubator should be operational at least for two years as of 1st January 2022.
The incubator must have successfully graduated a minimum of 15 startups

Eligibility Criteria for Accelerators

The accelerator should be structured as an independent entity-a Company, a Public trust, or a Society
The accelerator should be operational at least for two years as on 1st January 2022
. The accelerator must have successfully graduated a minimum of 10 startups

Rules for National Startup Awards 2022

Startups/ Incubators/ Accelerators who have won in any category in any previous National Startup Awards will not be eligible
One startup can nominate itself in maximum 2 categories
Finalists may be subject to a legal due diligence review by independent third-party evaluators. If the individual/ organization refuse such a request, Startup India holds the right to select the next highest scoring nominee as the award winner
By participating in the National Startup Awards, the startups, nominator, ecosystem enablers agree to the Government of India’s and its partners use of its name, URL, photos, and videos for promotional purposes on its website and other promotional material
The decisions of the jury and the implementation committee shall be final and binding. At the discretion of the jury, awards may not be presented in any sector or sub-sector if a deserving entity is not found
Allowances shall not be paid to any entity for travel or presentation before the jury

Documents Required

The startup needs to upload the following documents for applying National Startup Awards.

Documents for Startups

Certificate of Incorporation/Partnership deed
The entity must submit its certificate of incorporation or partnership deed.
In case the startup is less than 3 years old, please upload all available financial statements.
Partnership deed or other government accepted proof as proof for a woman founder (if applicable)
PAN card for founder/ co-founder
Aadhaar card for founder/co-founder
Startup Pitch Deck (Not more than 10 slides)
Trade specific registrations
Audited financial statements for the past 3 years (P&L Statement + Balance Sheet + IT Return)
Proof – In case of applying in a special category (women-led startup OR campus startup OR impact in the rural area OR potential for import substitution OR Innovation for COVID-19 (preventive, diagnostic, therapeutic, monitoring OR content delivery in Indic languages)
120 seconds video explaining your product or service (this video cannot be a YouTube link; it has to be made for application to National Startup Awards). The video should cover – the business model, scalability, innovation, social & economic impact on the environment

Documents for Incubators and Accelerators

Certificate of Incorporation
PAN card for organization

National Startup Awards 2022 –Application Procedure

The Application Procedure to apply for the National Startup Awards 2022 is as follows:

Note: In case you have already registered on Startup India and have a DPIIT recognition number, ensure that all the details given on Startup India registration are correct as certain fields will auto-populate in the application form

Go to the ‘National Startup Awards’ tab on Startup India Website to visit the National Startup Awards page
Click on the ‘Apply for National Startup Awards 2022’ button visible in the right bottom
Select the ‘Apply as Startup’ under the application closing countdown or select the category and the sub-category under which the startup wishes to apply
Check the auto-populated details in the participation form for National Startup Awards
Provide the details as mentioned in the application form and upload all the documents (refer above)
The incubator/accelerator need to Fill in the followings details (as per the format given in the application form)
Incubation/Acceleration Details
Incubation/Acceleration Support
Funding Details
Mentoring Support
Any other Support Provided to Incubatees
Ensure that all the uploads required to comply with the size requirement as mentioned and click on ‘submit’

Finalists may be subject to a legal due diligence review by independent third-party evaluators. If the individual/ organization refuse such a request, Startup India holds the right to select the next highest scoring nominee as the award winner