Frequently asked questions

An entity is considered for DPIIT recognition on the following criteria:

• Age of Entity
• Entity Type
• Annual Turnover
• Original Entity
• Innovative & Scalable

• Certificate of Incorporation or Registration of entity
• If the startup received any funding, the Proof of Funding need to furnish for DPIIT Certificate of Recognition for Startups
• Document of awards or recognition received by the entity
• Document of the patent published by the entity (The patent should be published in the patent journals)
• A brief description of the nature of the business. The write-up should contain the following details:
  • Details of how the startup is working towards innovation
  • Development of products or processes or services
  • The scalability in terms of employment generation or wealth creation

DPIIT does not charge any fee for certificate of recognition of startups.

Startups recognized by DPIIT are entitled to many easier compliance and other benefits.

• Self-Certification
• Patent & IPR Application
• Income Tax Exemption
• Simplified Public Procurement
• Easier Winding Process

StartupTN organises the multiple awareness & training events regularly through its regional hubs. Example: Break-the-Barrier (Thadai Adai Uthai), Aadukalam, Hackathon, etc

The events create awareness, impart knowledge, develop pitching skills, provide & mentoring networking, enable innovations, build confidence and many more.

Students, aspiring founders & early stage startups.

Educational institutions, industry associations, prominent & successful individuals, can join as sponsors, associates and partners.

Tamil Angels Network is a platform hosted by StartupTN to connect Tamil Diaspora with the Tamil Nadu based startups for making fundraising easy. The portal will aid and simplify the process of closing investment deals between global Tamil angels and the startups based in Tamil Nadu.

HNIs with investment traction will be preferred for onboarding as investors. However, any interested individuals referred by an existing investor shall be considered. However, the decision by TANSIM will be final.

Either the startups or the investors can get in touch to initiate the process of investment deal. The investors can investment either as an individual or as a group. The investors or the startups are solely responsible for the decision and further follow-up in this regard. TANSIM will not participate in the process in any manner.

It is an online platform with the objective of connecting right mentor for the startups. It functions more or less similar to the investor network.

1. Create a profile. You will be asked about your education, employment, anything else you want to share, and your preferences in a co-founder.
2. We need to approve your profile before you can use the platform. This may take up to a week.
3. Once you’ve been approved, you can look through profiles of potential candidates. If you’re interested in connecting with them, you can send a personalized message, to us and if they accept, we’ll email you to match the two of you.
4. Of course, you may also receive invites. If you choose to accept an invitation from someone, we’ll send you a match email as well.
5. Once you match, we let you take it from there, but we recommend scheduling a time to meet over video chat ASAP, and to work on a trial project together before committing to anything.

We do not commit any investments from our end based on participation at programs. However, we make investments through other programs or facilitate investments through introductions.

TANFUND is an online platform of Venture Capital and Private Equity firms. The objective is to aggregate these firms in a single platform, enabling easy access of funds to scaling up startups.

No, the platform is diverse.

1. The entity should be working towards innovation, development, or improvement of products or processes with a high potential of employment generation, social impact, or wealth creation.
2. The depth of research done on the identified problem.
3. Commitment, expertise & pedigree of the team.
4. Business plan and usage of fund – Clear deliverables and outcomes have to be mentioned by startups in their application.
5. Funds received by the applicant like grants, prize money and other financial modes will also be taken into consideration before sanction. Priority will be given to those startups who have not received any fund.
6. If the startup has any dues with StartupTN, the same has to be cleared before availing the fund.

The primary language is mostly Tamil. However, maybe in English language for non-Tamil speaking resources.

You can get involved with TANSIM by reaching out and expressing interest, applying for a program or initiative.

No. As of now TANSIM does not have any co-founder matching programs / initiatives.

Innovation is the process of introducing New or Making changes to products, processes and services that results in the introduction of something New and Innovative products with updated technology.

Period of Existence of the entity: The period of existence and operations of the entity should not exceed 10 years from the date of registration.

Type of Entity: The certificate of recognition is issued to startup registered as s a Private Limited Company, a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) or a Registered Partnership Firm.

Annual Turnover: To get the Certificate of Recognition, The firm should have an annual turnover of Rs. 100 crore for any of the fiscal years since its federation.

Original Entity: To avail the Unique ID, the company should not have been incorporated by splitting up or recreating an already existing entity.

Registered Office: Incorporated/registered office in Tamil Nadu.

You can contact us through the Academic Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Program (AIEDP) i.e Entrepreneurship Cell of your college spread across 500+ colleges all over the state. If your college doesn’t have an E-Cell, kindly reach us through this email.

We don’t take any board seat or any controlling power. You will be running your startup.

This funding is not a grant. A percentage of equity is to be provided to TANSIM based on funding amount & valuation. In this regard, a Shareholder Agreement is to be executed by the startup and share certificates in the name of TANSIM.

We fund all types of startups from all verticals. Please note we focus only on startups and not on small businesses.

1. The applications are screened on case-by-case
2. The application will be taken on first come first basis
3. The screening will be done by an expert committee
4. The funding to selected startups will be done in two or more tranches

The objective of Tamil Nadu SC/ST fund is to address the problem of non-inclusion entrepreneurs from SC/ST communities by investing in the startups founded by them.