Centre notifies Startup India Fund of ‘Funds 2.0’ with Rs 10,000 crore corpus
An Empowered Committee (EC) will also be constituted to monitor implementation and performance of the scheme
The Centre has notified the Startup India Fund of ‘Funds 2.0’ (Startup India FoF 2.0) with a total corpus of Rs 10,000 crore for the purpose of mobilising venture and growth capital for the startup ecosystem of the country.
The Startup India FoF 2.0 builds upon the strong performance of the Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS 1.0), which was launched in 2016 under the Startup India Action Plan to address funding gaps and catalyse the domestic capital for startups, as per the statement issued by Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
Startup India FoF 2.0 will have a total corpus of Rs 10,000 crore for commitments to eligible Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) spread across the 16th and 17th Finance Commission cycles, it said.
The statement highlighted that investments under Startup India FoF 2.0 will focus on AIFs supporting priority segments including deep tech startups, early growth stage startups supported by smaller AIFs, technology-driven and innovative manufacturing startups, and sector or stage agnostic startups.
Startup India FoF 2.0 will follow a structured selection process for AIFs involving screening by a Venture Capital Investment Committee (VCIC) comprising of veterans from the startup ecosystem, and the scheme incorporates robust monitoring and oversight mechanisms.
An Empowered Committee (EC) will also be constituted to monitor implementation and performance of the scheme, and provisions for co-investment by government and institutional investors under an umbrella framework have been included with appropriate governance safeguards.
The operational guidelines and the composition of VCIC will be issued by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
It noted that Startup India FoF 2.0 is expected to play a critical role in advancing India’s innovation-led growth agenda, and by supporting startups that build globally competitive technologies, products, and solutions, the scheme will contribute to strengthening India’s economic resilience, boosting manufacturing capabilities, generating high-quality jobs, and positioning India as a global innovation hub.
The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) will commence operationalisation of the scheme as the Implementation Agency (IA) with effect from the date of notification, and in addition, another domestic Implementation agency will also be selected to implement the proposed scheme.
