Arunachal Pradesh Entrepreneurship Challenge (APEC)

What is the Arunachal Pradesh Entrepreneurship Challenge?

Arunachal Pradesh Entrepreneurship Challenge (APEC) is the competitive selection round of the Arunachal Pradesh Entrepreneurship Development Programme (APEDP), an initiative of the Investment Division of the Department of Finance, Planning and Investment, Government of Arunachal Pradesh. According to the department's own page, Chief Minister Pema Khandu launched APEDP and unveiled APEC as the first part of it on the eve of the 74th Independence Day, that is, 14 August 2020.

APEDP is described by the department as aimed at "catalyzing an inclusive solution to the motley local challenges by developing a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem in the state and facilitating aspiring entrepreneurs with comprehensive support and nurturing". APEC itself is the first step in identifying, promoting, supporting and nurturing sustainable and locally relevant business ideas and entrepreneurs.

Programme structure. APEDP runs in four stages:

1. APEC, the entrepreneurship challenge and selection round.
2. Pre-incubation, nine months of ground-level support to convert an idea into a commercialisable product or service.
3. Incubation, nine months of support to scale an early-stage venture.
4. Livelihood accelerator, developing micro-entrepreneurs for broader livelihood creation.

Knowledge partner. The IIM Calcutta Innovation Park (IIMCIP), a non-profit company set up under the aegis of IIM Calcutta, has the mandate to run the programme as knowledge partner. IIMCIP designed the nine-month pre-incubation and incubation programmes.

Where does APEC incubation take place?

Selected startups are incubated at the Arunachal Pradesh Innovation and Investment Park (APIIP) in Itanagar. According to the Ease of Doing Business Arunachal Pradesh portal, APIIP was established in August 2021 as the first state-owned marquee incubator, initiated as a pivotal pillar of the Arunachal Pradesh Startup Policy, and works with IIMCIP as knowledge partner.

APIIP's published targets and facilities include:

APIIP is to be supported as the umbrella organisation of all Arunachal Pradesh state-sponsored incubators, and it also invests equity in selected startups.

Who is eligible for the Arunachal Pradesh Entrepreneurship Challenge?

You can apply if:

• You are a resident of Arunachal Pradesh above 18 years of age, or an Arunachali currently working or residing outside the state who wishes to return to the state and become an entrepreneur.
• Your venture is an early-stage venture set up on or after 15 August 2015.
• Your innovation is at the ideation stage, minimum viable product or proof of concept stage, or revenue stage, so that it can be incubated at APIIP.
• You have a promising idea and plan, or a prototype or working model.
• Ideally, you have demonstrated some traction from customers, and you have a full-time core team, preference is given to such applicants.

You cannot apply / are not eligible if:

• Your venture belongs to the alcohol, tobacco, gambling, firearms or explosives industries. These five are explicitly excluded.
• You are under 18 years of age.
• Your venture was set up before 15 August 2015, which puts it outside the early-stage definition used by the programme.
• You have no connection to Arunachal Pradesh: neither residence in the state nor Arunachali origin with the intention to return.
• Your idea is only a concept with no plan, prototype or working model to show.

How to apply for the Arunachal Pradesh Entrepreneurship Challenge

APEC runs in editions rather than continuously, so the first task is to confirm that a window is open.

1. Check whether an APEC edition is open. Open the Arunachal Pradesh Entrepreneurship Development Programme page on the Department of Finance, Planning and Investment website (arunachalplan.gov.in) and the APIIP page on eodb.arunachal.gov.in. APIIP organises the startup challenge annually, so the dates change with each edition.
2. Check your eligibility against the published criteria, age above 18, residence or Arunachali origin, venture set up on or after 15 August 2015, stage of the innovation, and the excluded industries list.
3. Prepare your application material — the business idea and plan, prototype or working model, evidence of customer traction, core team details, and the venture's incorporation or start date.
4. Apply online through the official application link published on the department's APEDP page for the current edition. Verify the link from the government page each time rather than from memory.
5. Wait for first-round selection. In the second edition, applications closed on 14 October 2022 and first-round selection was on 14 November 2022.
6. Attend the evaluation and screening. After a thorough evaluation and screening, 50 top entrepreneurs are selected for the pre-incubation and incubation programmes facilitated by IIMCIP.
7. Check your registered email and phone. Selected candidates are notified through their registered email ID and phone number.

What do selected startups receive?

According to the department's APEDP page and the programme's own benefits listing, selected startups get:

• Seed money of up to Rs 5 lakh for the top 10 entrepreneurs and up to Rs 4 lakh for the next 40, released on a milestone basis rather than as a lump sum.
• Nine months of pre-incubation and nine months of incubation designed by IIMCIP.
• Focused mentorship; mentors are mapped to businesses incubated at APIIP, tasks are set at each meeting and reviewed at the next, alongside capacity building workshops based on a needs analysis of the cohort.
• Access to the IIM Calcutta Innovation Park network.
• Access to co-working space at the Arunachal Pradesh Innovation and Investment Park, Itanagar.
• Eligibility to avail various government support schemes, grants, soft loans and pilot opportunities.
• A certificate of recognition from the Government of Arunachal Pradesh and IIMCIP.

What are the key APEC dates?

The programme has run in editions since 2020:

• 14 August 2020; APEDP launched and APEC unveiled by the Chief Minister on the eve of the 74th Independence Day.
• 14 August 2021; seed money handed over by the Chief Minister to the 31 startups selected in the final round of the first edition.
• 15 August 2022 to 14 October 2022: registration window for the 2nd Arunachal Pradesh Entrepreneurship Challenge.
• 14 November 2022, first round selection for the second edition.
• 1 December 2022: final selection for the second edition.
• August 2021, Arunachal Pradesh Innovation and Investment Park established.

Later editions have been announced with a nine-month incubation at APIIP. Because APEC dates move every year, always confirm the current window on the government pages before planning an application.

Why do APEC applications get rejected?

The published eligibility list makes the common reasons clear:

• The venture falls in one of the five excluded industries: alcohol, tobacco, gambling, firearms, explosives.
• The venture was registered before 15 August 2015, so it is not early-stage for the programme's purposes.
• The applicant is neither resident in Arunachal Pradesh nor an Arunachali intending to return.
• The submission is an idea with no plan, prototype or working model and no evidence of customer traction.
• No full-time core team, which is a stated preference in evaluation.
• The application misses the notified window. APEC is not open all year.

Where do you get help with APEC?

• Investment Division, Department of Finance, Planning and Investment, Government of Arunachal Pradesh, Civil Secretariat, Block No. 1, Itanagar. Office hours are 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
• Arunachal Pradesh Innovation and Investment Park (APIIP), Itanagar, which runs the incubation and is the one-stop point for startups in the state.
• Ease of Doing Business Arunachal Pradesh portal, eodb.arunachal.gov.in, which carries the APIIP page, a grievance lodging and tracking facility and a citizen login. The listed email on that portal is eodb.arunachal@arn.gov.in.

A caution worth stating plainly: earlier APEC editions used an external startup microsite, and links of that kind can lapse and be picked up by unrelated commercial websites. Always start from arunachalplan.gov.in or eodb.arunachal.gov.in and follow the link published there for the current edition. No fee is charged by the Government of Arunachal Pradesh for applying to the Arunachal Pradesh Entrepreneurship Challenge.

How to check your APEC application status

APEC does not run a public applicant-facing status dashboard the way a year-round subsidy scheme does. Because it is a one-time competitive selection process per edition, status updates flow through a small number of official channels rather than a login portal.

1. Wait for the notified selection dates for the edition you applied to. In the second edition, first-round selection was announced on 14 November 2022 and the final list on 1 December 2022. Selection results for the current edition are announced on similar fixed dates rather than on demand, so check close to the dates published on the department's APEDP page rather than immediately after submitting.
2. Check your registered email and phone first. Selected candidates are contacted directly on the email ID and phone number entered in the application. If you have not heard anything by the announced selection date, treat that as reason to follow up rather than as a rejection.
3. Revisit the official pages for a results announcement. The Department of Finance, Planning and Investment's APEDP page (arunachalplan.gov.in/arunachal-pradesh-entrepreneurship-development-programme) and the APIIP page on the Ease of Doing Business Arunachal Pradesh portal (eodb.arunachal.gov.in) are where the department has historically posted edition results and the next steps for selected entrepreneurs.
4. Use the EoDB portal's grievance and tracking facility if you get no response. The Ease of Doing Business Arunachal Pradesh portal carries a citizen login along with a grievance lodging and tracking facility. An applicant who has not received any communication well past the announced selection date can lodge a query there, or write to the listed portal email, eodb.arunachal@arn.gov.in, quoting the edition applied to and the date of submission.
5. Contact the Investment Division directly for edition-specific queries. The Investment Division, Department of Finance, Planning and Investment, Civil Secretariat, Block No. 1, Itanagar, handles APEDP administratively and can be approached in person or in writing during office hours, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, for a specific application's status if the online channels give no answer.
6. Once selected, track progress through APIIP rather than through APEC itself. Status after selection (pre-incubation milestones, mentor assignments, milestone-based seed money releases) is managed by the Arunachal Pradesh Innovation and Investment Park and IIMCIP directly with the incubated founder, not through the original application channel.