The Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) has awarded grants to 18 startups under the first cohort of its Samarth Telecom and ICT Incubation Scheme, aimed at strengthening India’s innovation ecosystem in telecom, cybersecurity, quantum technologies, and next-gen connectivity. Each selected startup will receive up to ₹5 lakh in funding, office space, and lab access at C-DOT campuses in Delhi and Bengaluru.
The initiative, supported by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), is designed to help startups transition from ideation to commercialisation by providing access to resources, expert mentorship, and infrastructure. Samarth is implemented in collaboration with Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) and The IndUS Entrepreneurs (TiE), both of whom serve as program partners.
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Startups working on 5G, AI, IoT, and quantum technologies
The selected startups span sectors like 5G and 6G, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, IoT, and quantum computing. Companies such as Matisoft Cyber Security Labs, Turtleneck Systems, and AgriVerse Innovations are among those awarded grants. The programme is structured to run in two six-month cohorts and will support a total of 36 startups over its course.
In addition to financial support, cohort members gain access to C-DOT’s R&D labs, expert-led mentoring sessions, and structured acceleration modules. The hybrid delivery model is tailored to guide early-stage firms through product development, testing, and go-to-market readiness.
Institutional partnerships to strengthen commercial readiness
At the launch event in Delhi, leaders from C-DOT, STPI, and TiE formalized a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to sustain long-term collaboration across future cohorts. Notable attendees included C-DOT CEO Rajkumar Upadhyay, STPI Director General Arvind Kumar, and TiE Delhi-NCR President Atul Dhawan.
With India positioning itself as a telecom manufacturing and innovation hub, the Samarth scheme is part of a broader strategy to enable agile, sustainable tech startups to thrive in critical infrastructure domains.
