I&B Ministry
MeitY allocates Rs 1.81 crore under SAMRIDH programme
Rs 1.81 crore disbursed to Visakhapatnam accelerator under the scheme
NEW DELHI: India’s startup engine is getting a little more fuel, with five startups in Andhra Pradesh receiving support under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s (MeitY) Startup Accelerator of MeitY for Product Innovation, Development, and Growth (SAMRIDH) programme.
The programme, which concluded on January 31, 2026, was designed to accelerate around 300 startups through existing and upcoming accelerators across sectors including health-tech, ed-tech, agri-tech, consumer-tech, fintech, software as a service (SaaS) and sustainability.
In Andhra Pradesh, seven accelerators submitted expressions of interest under the programme over the past five years. One each came from Ananthapuramu, Guntur and West Godavari districts, while four were from Visakhapatnam.
Of these, Kalpataru Centre of Excellence (CoE), operated by AIC STPINEXT Initiatives in Visakhapatnam, was selected to implement the programme.
Five startups were subsequently selected and supported through the accelerator. They are Aerogravity Private Limited, Cairovision Private Limited, Epsum Labs Private Limited, Scraptechies Solutions Private Limited and Voptimaise Climate Tech Solutions Private Limited.
The programme provides selected accelerators with financial support of Rs 2 lakh per startup, along with matching funding for startups of up to Rs 40 lakh, subject to programme guidelines.
Under the Andhra Pradesh implementation, Rs 1.81 crore was allocated and disbursed to Kalpataru CoE, making it the key accelerator supporting the five startups in the state.
The programme is monitored by MeitY Start-up Hub (MSH) under Digital India Corporation. Its evaluation framework tracks both quantitative and qualitative performance indicators, including the annual revenue and valuation growth of supported startups.
The information was submitted by Jitin Prasada in the Rajya Sabha on August 7, 2026.
While SAMRIDH has now concluded, its support for startups through accelerator-led programmes highlights the government’s push to strengthen India’s early-stage technology ecosystem beyond funding alone, with mentorship, acceleration and market-focused growth also taking centre stage.
