The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has launched the third edition of the National Startup Awards. The National Startup Awards 2022 will acknowledge startups and enablers who have been instrumental in revolutionising the development story of India.

The awards for startups will be given in 17 sectors classified into 50 sub-sectors. The 17 sectors are health and wellness, agriculture, animal husbandry, construction, drinking water, education and skill development, energy, enterprise technology, environment, FinTech, food processing, Industry 4.0, Media & Entertainment, Security, Space, transport and Travel. 

In addition, there are seven special categories of awards for startups: 

• Women-led startups
• Impact in rural areas
• Campus startups
• Manufacturing excellence
• Innovation tackling the pandemic (preventive, diagnostic, therapeutic, monitoring, digital connect, work from home solutions, etc.)
• Solution delivery or business operations in Indic languages
• Startups from North-East (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura) and Hilly States/ Union Territories (Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, and Ladakh)

The National Startup Awards 2022 will also reward exceptional incubators and accelerators as key building blocks of a robust startup ecosystem.

A cash prize of Rs 5 lakh will be awarded to each winning startup. The winners and runners-up will also be given opportunities to present their solutions to relevant public authorities and corporates for potential pilot projects and work orders and pitching opportunities with investors. They will also be given priority for participation in various national and international startup events.

A cash prize of Rs 15 lakh each will be awarded to one winning incubator and one winning accelerator. The applications for the National Startup Awards 2022 are open till March 15, 2022.