Modi govt sanctions Rs 7,300 crore for big push to startups

An amount of Rs 7,385 crore has been so far committed to 88 Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) by the Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS), launched under the Startup India umbrella in 2016 by Prime Minuster Narendra Modi. FFS was announced with a corpus of Rs. 10,000 crore.

According to an official statement, these AIFs in turn have invested Rs 11,206 crore in 720 startups. The FFS has been playing a monumental role in mobilizing domestic capital in Indian startup ecosystem.

FFS has not only made capital available for startups at early stage, seed stage and growth stage but also played a catalytic role in terms of facilitating raising of domestic capital, reducing dependence on foreign capital and encouraging home grown and new venture capital funds.

Under FFS, support is extended to SEBI registered Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), which in turn invest in startups.

Collectively, the AIFs supported by FFS have a target corpus of over Rs 48,000 crore. Among the prominent AIFs of leading startup investment firms supported under FFS are Chiratae Ventures, India Quotient, Blume Ventures, IvyCap, Waterbridge, Omnivore, Aavishkaar, JM Financial, Fireside Ventures, among others, the statement said.

India has the third largest startup ecosystem in the world. According to Invest India, India is now home to 81 unicorns – startups with over $1 billion. Out of the total number of unicorns, 44 unicorns with a total valuation of $ 89.17 billion were born in 2021.

Also read: Softbank boss Masayoshi Son supports Unicorns, says India’s future is bright