About National Startup Awards:
- It is a flagship initiative launched in 2019 under the Startup India initiative to recognise innovation and entrepreneurship and strengthen India’s startup ecosystem.
- It provides a national platform to recognise entrepreneurial excellence and showcase innovative solutions addressing critical challenges across sectors.
- It recognises startups demonstrating outstanding performance in innovation, scalability, sustainability and socio-economic impact.
- Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Commerce and Industry
National Startup Awards 6.0:
- NSA 6.0 edition aims to encourage participation from startups across States and Union Territories, including emerging entrepreneurial ecosystems in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.
- It will recognise innovation, entrepreneurship and excellence across 20 sectoral categories and three special award categories,
- This edition introduces 12 new sectoral categories:
- Biomanufacturing; Consumer Industries; Defence & Security; Rural Economy, Traditional Industries & Livelihoods; Education & Skilling; Electronics, Semiconductors & Advanced Manufacturing; Sports, Fitness & Sports-Tech; Future Mobility & Automotive; Ocean & Blue Economy; Space-Tech, Drones & Aerospace; Telecom, Connectivity & Digital Infrastructure; and Travel, Tourism & Hospitality.
- The three special award categories are:
- Women-Led Startups
- Startups from the North-Eastern Region
- Student Innovator / Aspiring Entrepreneur
- Award Money:
- Winning startups across the 20 sectoral categories and the two startup-focused special categories will be eligible for a cash prize of ₹25 lakh per category.
- The Student Innovator / Aspiring Entrepreneur Award will carry a total prize pool of ₹25 lakh across four sub-categories.
- In addition this award seeks to facilitate mentorship, investor engagement, market access, industry partnerships and enhanced visibility within India’s startup ecosystem.
