BIRAC Biotechnology Ignition Grant (BIG) Scheme

Designed to support biotech innovators, academic researchers, and startups (incorporated less than 5 years ago) to take their innovation from ideation to proof-of-concept stage by offering up to ₹50 Lakhs. BIG's ₹50 lakh grant is released against milestones set jointly with one of BIRAC's roughly eight BIG Partner institutions, which continue to monitor progress and disburse funds through the full 18-month project rather than as a single upfront payment. The scheme is explicitly positioned to help applicants build the kind of realistic, investment-relevant milestones that matter later when raising a priced round, not just to fund the science itself. Given its focus on early discovery-to-prototype work, it is best suited to teams with promising lab-stage results who have not yet built a commercial-ready product.