Startup India Investment: Govt Commits Rs 7,385 Cr Under Fund Of Funds For 88 AIFs

The Centre has announced that the Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) has committed Rs 7,385 crore to 88 Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) since its launch in 2016.

The government has said the AIFs have in turn invested Rs 11,206 crore in 720 startups.

The FFS was launched by PM Modi in 2016 to mobilise domestic capital to give the Indian startup ecosystem a push. It was announced with a corpus of Rs 10,000 crore. 

The corpus is to be built up over 14th and 15th Finance Commission Cycles (FY 2016-2020 and FY 2021-2025) through budgetary support by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India. Under FFS, support is extended to SEBI registered Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), which in turn invest in startups.

So far, the FFS has capital available for startups in the country at early stage, seed stage and growth stage. Beyond this, it has also facilitated in raising of domestic capital and encouraging home grown and new venture capital funds.

Some of the notable startups funded through FFS include Dunzo, CureFit, FreshToHome, Jumbotail, Unacademy, Uniphore, Vogo, Zostel and Zetwerk. 

“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, and more”, said the statement by Centre.

The government has observed that the amount committed under FFS has seen growth over the years recording a CAGR of over 21 per cent since the launch of the Scheme. 

The FFS has anchored 67 AIFs out of 88 AIFs supported.