The Startup should be incorporated as a private limited company or registered as a partnership firm or a limited liability partnership Turnover should be less than INR 100 Crores in any of the previous financial years An entity shall be considered as a startup up to 10 years from the date of its incorporation The Startup should be working towards innovation/ improvement of existing products, services and processes and should have the potential to generate employment/ create wealth. An entity formed by splitting up or Reconstruction of an existing business shall not be considered a Startup

For availing various benefits, an entity would be required to be recognized as a Startup by applying on Startup India Mobile App/ Portal. In order to obtain tax benefits, a Startup shall be required to be certified as an eligible business from the Inter-Ministerial Board of Certification. A Startup incorporated between April 1, 2016 and April 1, 2019 shall be eligible to obtain tax benefits proposed under the Finance Bill 2016.

An entity would cease to be a 'startup' upon expiry of: a) Up to 7 years from the date of its incorporation/ registration; however, in the case of Startups in the biotechnology sector, the period shall be up to 10 years from the date of its Incorporation/ registration; OR b) If its turnover for any of the financial years has exceeded INR 25 crore Startups would be required to intimate DIPP of any such cases within a period of 21 days.

Yes. One Person Companies are eligible to avail benefits under the Startup India initiative.

DIPP has launched Learning Development module for budding entrepreneurs, the learning Program is a 4-weeks free program for early stage entrepreneurs across the country. This online program is aimed at teaching new and existing entrepreneurs on how to start a new business and how to scale an existing one. Interested individuals can enroll for this free course at this link: http://www.startupindia.gov.in/learning-development/ For more courses, please visit the Learning Development section Also, incubators all across India provide guidance to budding startups and you can approach these. There is a list of incubators listed on the Startup India portal for your reference.