Rs 500 crore India Inclusive Innovation Fund launched

NEW DELHI: Three years after announcing the setting up the India Inclusive Innovation Fund ( IIIF), the government formally launched the fund on Monday with the initial corpus of Rs 500 crore. The ministry of small and medium enterprises would pump in Rs 100 crore while the rest would come from banks and overseas financial investors. The fund would be eventually scaled up to Rs 5,000 crore over the next two years.

The fund, which will be registered under Sebi’s Alternative Investment Fund Category, will invest in innovative ventures that are scalable, sustainable and therefore profitable but address social needs in areas of healthcare, food, nutrition, agriculture and education.

“IIIF seeks to leverage the model of venture capital to provide financial support to innovative projects with a social cause,” Sam Pitroda, chairman of the National Innovation Council and advisor to the PM on innovation said.