ISRO Gives Rs 50 Lakh in R&D Support to Six Startups

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh informed that six start-ups were selected and supported by ISRO with a grant-in-aid of maximum of Rs 50 lakhs each in areas like geo spatial information, propulsion and Robotics/ AR/VR.

According to a written response from Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of Science and Technology, 6 startups have each received Rs. 50 lakh in funding for R&D projects as part of the ANIC-ARISE 1.0 initiative, which was introduced in 2020.

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With support from a number of government agencies, including ISRO, the Defense Ministry, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, the ANIC-ARISE programme was created to assist startups with their research and technology goals.

Startups focusing on propulsion technology, AR/VR, or geospatial information were required by ISRO for the programme. The 7 shortlisted startups that were selected for this programme, according to the ANIC-ARISE website, are SatSure, Satyukt Analytics, Numer Analytics, Bellatrix Aerospace, Skyroot Aerospace, Digantara, and Vashishta Research. The full list of selected startups has not yet been made public.

ANIC-ARISE-1.0 has following three space sector challenges to get project proposals from start-ups: (i) geo spatial information, (ii) propulsion and (iii) Robotics/ Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality.

ANIC-ARISE-2.0 has been launched with four space sector challenges: (i) GIS solutions, (ii) Propulsion, (iii) Navigation & (iv) AI/ML modelling for space applications, seeking project proposals from start-ups in these areas. Selected start-ups will be supported with a grant-in-aid of maximum of INR 50 lakhs each.