PANAJI
The Goa government has cleared seed capital support for eight startups under its Startup Policy 2025.
The approvals came at the 10th meeting of the Empowered Committee chaired by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, convened by the Department of Information Technology, Electronics and Communication (DITE&C) at the Secretariat in Porvorim.
The committee reviewed applications under the Seed Capital Grant Scheme, which offers one-time assistance of up to Rs 10 lakh to startups that have developed a minimum viable product.
The meeting, co-chaired by IT Minister Rohan Khaunte along with senior government officials, reviewed 27 applications received by the Startup and IT Promotion Cell. Of these, 16 were shortlisted by an expert committee and placed before the Empowered Committee. After evaluation, eight startups were selected by consensus.
Officials informed that the chosen ventures span healthcare, artificial intelligence, construction technology, tourism and digital media among others.
“Committee members assessed the startups on feasibility, innovation, scalability, revenue models and long-term sustainability. The selected companies had developed and demonstrated their solutions within Goa,” an official said.
Speaking after the meeting, Khaunte said the quality of proposals reflected a maturing startup ecosystem in the State and emphasised the government’s intent to back early-stage founders with targeted support.
The meeting also marked the first disbursal under the newly launched Campus Innovation Scheme. Cheques of Rs 50,000 each were handed to 10 student-led projects from five engineering colleges in Goa, with two projects supported per institution.
