Nutrihub Cohort – IX under RKVY-RAFTAAR Scheme

Nutrihub Cohort-IX under the RKVY-RAFTAAR Scheme is an India-focused agripreneurship and millet innovation support program designed for student innovators, early-stage startups, and growth-stage agribusiness ventures working in the millet ecosystem. The program is hosted by ICAR – Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR) through Nutrihub, a Technology Business Incubator (TBI), under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India.

The initiative invites applications from startups and innovators developing millet-based products, technologies, and value-added innovations. The program is structured across multiple startup stages, offering different funding and incubation pathways for student innovators, prototype-stage startups, and scaling agribusiness ventures.

The cohort includes three major categories:

• NSTEP (Student Orientation Program) for student innovators
• NEST (Pre-Seed Startup Training Program) for prototype-stage startups
• NGRAIN (Seed Stage Agripreneurship Program) for startups focused on commercialization and scaling

Under the NGRAIN category, eligible startups can receive grant-in-aid support of up to ₹25 lakhs to accelerate product development, market expansion, commercialization, and business scaling. The program also provides mentorship, incubation support, technical guidance, and market-access assistance for millet-focused startups.

The initiative is part of the PM-RKVY (RKVY-RAFTAAR) scheme, which aims to strengthen innovation and entrepreneurship in agriculture and allied sectors. Nutrihub specifically focuses on promoting millet-based innovations due to the growing importance of millets in nutrition, sustainability, climate resilience, and low-carbon agriculture.

Apart from financial support, selected startups gain access to business strategy training, technical mentorship, investor exposure, and commercialization support. The incubation ecosystem helps founders navigate operational challenges, improve product-market fit, and build scalable agribusiness ventures in the millet sector.

From a founder’s perspective, this opportunity is especially relevant for startups building products or technologies around millets and sustainable food systems. It is particularly useful for founders seeking government-backed grant support and institutional incubation without equity dilution during early growth stages.