Startup India recognition certificate

What it is and who is eligible

Startup India is a flagship initiative of the Government of India, launched in January 2016 to build a strong ecosystem for innovation and startups, drive economic growth and create jobs. The definition of a startup for these schemes has been widened since launch. An entity qualifies if it meets all of the following:

• It is incorporated or registered in India as a private limited company, a limited liability partnership or a registered partnership firm.
• It is within 10 years from the date of incorporation or registration. The earlier limits of 7 years, and 10 years for biotechnology startups, no longer apply.
• Its turnover has not exceeded Rs. 100 crore in any financial year since incorporation. The earlier limit was Rs. 25 crore.
• It is working towards innovation, development or improvement of products, processes or services, or it is a scalable business model with high potential for employment generation or wealth creation.
• It was not formed by splitting up or reconstructing a business that already existed.

What does not count as innovation

Recognition is not automatic. Merely developing products, services or processes that have no potential for commercialisation, that are undifferentiated from what already exists, or that add no or limited incremental value for customers or workflow does not qualify. The application must explain clearly what is new and why it can scale.

Benefits

• Self certification of compliance under six labour laws and three environment laws, with no routine labour inspections for an initial period unless a credible, written complaint is received. The labour laws are the Building and Other Construction Workers Act, 1996; the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, 1979; the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972; the Contract Labour Act, 1970; the Employees' Provident Funds Act, 1952; and the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948. Startups in the white category defined by the Central Pollution Control Board self certify environmental compliance with only random checks.
• Fast track examination of patent applications, an 80% rebate on patent filing fees and a 50% rebate on trademark filing fees.
• Public procurement: exemption from prior turnover and prior experience criteria and from earnest money deposit in central government tenders and on GeM, subject to meeting quality and technical requirements.
• Faster exit: startups with simple debt structures can be wound up within 90 days under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, with an insolvency professional taking charge of liquidating assets and paying creditors.
• Funding: access to the Fund of Funds for Startups with a corpus of Rs. 10,000 crore, which invests through SEBI registered alternative investment funds rather than directly, and to the credit guarantee scheme for startups.
• Income tax exemption under section 80-IAC for three consecutive years out of the first ten, after a separate certificate from the Inter-Ministerial Board.
• Earlier, recognised startups were also exempt from tax on share premium above fair market value under section 56(2)(viib). That provision has since been removed for all investors from assessment year 2025-26.

Tax benefits under section 80-IAC

• The startup must be a private limited company under the Companies Act, 2013 or an LLP under the LLP Act, 2008, incorporated on or after 1 April 2016 and before the cut-off date in force. The window was originally 1 April 2019 and has been extended several times, most recently by the Finance Act, 2025 to 1 April 2030.
• It must be working towards innovation, development or improvement of products, processes or services, or be a scalable business model with high potential for employment or wealth creation.
• It must hold a certificate of eligible business from the Inter-Ministerial Board of Certification set up by DPIIT.
• Turnover must not exceed Rs. 100 crore in the year for which the deduction is claimed.
• The deduction is 100% of profits for any three consecutive years chosen by the startup out of its first ten years.

Documents you will need

• Certificate of incorporation of the company or LLP, or registration certificate of the partnership firm
• PAN of the entity
• Brief write-up on the innovation, development or improvement, or on scalability and employment potential (ISPEED drafts this with you)
• Pitch deck, website link or product video, if available
• Details of directors or partners with contact information
• Patent, trademark or design filings, if any
• Letters of funding, incubation or awards, if any
• Authorisation letter for ISPEED to file on your behalf