PolicyForge.com

Automate semiconductor grants and policy compliance

Score: 7.6/10IndiaEasy BuildReady to Spawn
Brand Colors

The Opportunity

Problem

Indian semiconductor startups must overcome severe infrastructure, fabrication, and ecosystem gaps to build world-class chips domestically

Solution

PolicyForge tracks every Indian semiconductor policy update from MEITY, ISM, and state governments and translates them into actionable checklists for your startup. It auto-fills DLI, SPECS, and other grant applications using your company data, generates compliance reports, and maintains an audit trail required by government auditors.

Target Audience

Founders and technical leads at early-stage Indian semiconductor startups (chip design/IP firms)

Differentiator

LLM-powered policy digest that converts 200-page PDF notifications into startup-specific task lists with deadlines and eligibility scoring.

Brand Voice

friendly

Features

Policy Radar

must-have32h

Real-time alerts on new MEITY/ISM notifications with AI summaries

Grant Application Builder

must-have45h

Dynamic forms that auto-populate from your company profile for DLI, SPECS, etc.

Eligibility Scanner

must-have28h

Instant scoring of your startup against 40+ government schemes

Document Generator

must-have35h

Creates compliant PDFs and Excel sheets required by government portals

Compliance Dashboard

must-have30h

Live audit trail and readiness score for future funding rounds

Ecosystem Directory

must-have25h

Curated and verified list of approved mentors, consultants, and vendors

AI Policy Q&A

nice-to-have38h

Chat interface to ask questions about specific clauses

Application Submission Helper

nice-to-have45h

Pre-fills government portal forms (where APIs exist) or generates upload packages

Investor Reporting Pack

nice-to-have22h

One-click export showing government scheme compliance for pitch decks

Total Build Time: 300 hours

Database Schema

organizations

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
nametextNo
cintextYes
dl_i_registeredboolYes
created_attimestampNo

Relationships:

  • users and applications reference organizations

users

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
org_iduuidNo
emailtextNo
roletextYes

Relationships:

  • foreign key to organizations

policies

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
titletextNo
sourcetextNo
published_datetimestampNo
summarytextYes
eligibility_rulestextYes

Relationships:

  • has many applications

applications

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
org_iduuidNo
policy_iduuidNo
statustextNo
eligibility_scoreintYes
submitted_attimestampYes

Relationships:

  • references organizations and policies

API Endpoints

POST
/api/policies/ingest

Admin endpoint to add new government notifications

🔒 Auth Required
POST
/api/eligibility/scan

Run company against all active schemes

🔒 Auth Required
POST
/api/applications

Create and auto-fill new grant application

🔒 Auth Required

Tech Stack

Frontend
Ruby on Rails 7 + Hotwire/Turbo + Tailwind
Backend
Ruby on Rails
Database
PostgreSQL
Auth
Devise
Payments
Razorpay
Hosting
Render
Additional Tools
SidekiqGroq LLM API for summarizationPrawn for PDF generation

Build Timeline

Week 1: Core CRUD and policy ingestion

35h
  • Rails app with Devise, policy model, basic dashboard

Week 2: Eligibility engine and LLM integration

42h
  • Rule engine + Groq summarizer
  • Eligibility scoring UI

Week 3: Application builder and documents

38h
  • Dynamic form generator
  • PDF/Excel export
  • Audit trail

Week 4: Payments, alerts and launch

32h
  • Razorpay subscription
  • Daily policy digest email
  • Landing page
Total Timeline: 4 weeks • 190 hours

Pricing Tiers

Starter

$0/mo

1 user

  • Policy radar (3 schemes)
  • Basic eligibility scan

Pro

$35/mo

None

  • All schemes
  • Auto-filled applications
  • Document generator
  • Priority alerts
  • LLM Q&A

Enterprise

$99/mo

None

  • Everything in Pro
  • Team seats
  • API access
  • Dedicated compliance officer support
  • White-labeled reports

Revenue Projections

MonthUsersConversionMRRARR
Month 114018%$882$10,584
Month 692024%$7,728$92,736

Unit Economics

$48
CAC
$920
LTV
4%
Churn
87%
Margin
LTV:CAC Ratio: 19.2xExcellent!

Landing Page Copy

Stop Missing Semiconductor Government Money

PolicyForge turns complex MEITY notifications into ready-to-submit grant applications in minutes. Built for busy Indian chip founders.

Feature Highlights

Real-time policy digestion
Auto-filled DLI & SPECS forms
Eligibility scoring engine
Compliance audit trail
Ecosystem vendor directory

Social Proof (Placeholders)

"'We discovered we were eligible for ₹42 Cr under SPECS that we had completely missed' — CEO, Analog Design startup"
"'Saved our team ~200 hours on paperwork for ISM application' — Head of Strategy"

First Three Customers

1. Partner with C-DAC and MeitY incubation centers to offer free Pro accounts to their semiconductor portfolio companies. 2. Speak at India Semiconductor Mission webinars and collect leads. 3. Run LinkedIn campaign targeting 'DLI' and 'semiconductor mission' keyword users with free eligibility audit.

Launch Channels

LinkedInProductHuntISA ConnectMeitY ecosystem eventsYourStory

SEO Keywords

DLI scheme application toolISM compliance softwaresemiconductor grant automation indiaMEITY policy trackerindia semiconductor incentives

Competitive Analysis

High monthly
Strength

Broad startup database

Weakness

Generic — no semiconductor policy expertise or auto-fill forms

Our Advantage

Deep domain knowledge of every clause in ISM and DLI schemes

🏰 Moat Strategy

Continuously updated dataset of policy interpretations and successful application templates that improves with every funded startup using the platform. Strong brand as the 'go-to policy companion' within the Indian semiconductor community.

⏰ Why Now?

The India Semiconductor Mission launched multiple overlapping schemes in 2023-2024 creating massive confusion and paperwork burden exactly when dozens of new design startups are being incorporated.

Risks & Mitigation

legalhigh severity

Incorrect advice leading to rejected applications or penalties

Mitigation

Heavy disclaimers, human review step before final submission, partner with ex-MeitY officers as advisors

marketmedium severity

Policy changes faster than we can update engine

Mitigation

Daily scrapers from official gazette + LLM that flags new documents for manual review within 24h

Validation Roadmap

pre-build14 days

Interview 25 founders who have applied for DLI or SPECS

Success: ≥18 report spending >80 hours on paperwork and would pay for automation

mvp45 days

Beta test with 8 companies on live DLI round

Success: ≥6 submit applications through platform with positive NPS

Pivot Options

  • Expand into full company secretarial and regulatory compliance SaaS for deep-tech
  • Create marketplace for semiconductor consultants and auditors

Quick Stats

Build Time
190h
Target MRR (6 mo)
$9,500
Market Size
$28.0M
Features
9
Database Tables
4
API Endpoints
3