Start-up India has Rs 930-crore legs to stand on

The government’s `Startup India, Stand Up India’ programme seems to be gaining some momentum, with the Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) clearing Rs 930 crore from the Rs 2,000-crore fund-of-funds it launched in August to support venture capital funds.

Sidbi’s India Aspiration Fund (IAF) has screened 30 venture capital funds since its launch and has already issued sanction letters to more than half of them.

“Proposals from 24 venture capital funds for an aggregate commitment of Rs 930 crore have been cleared in principle by the Venture Capital Investment Committee (VCIC) so far, out of which sanction letters have already been issued to 16 VCFs with an aggregate commitment of Rs 482 crore, where documentation is in progress,“ Sidbi Chairman and Managing Director Kshatrapati Shivaji said.

A dozen proposals for a potential commitment of around Rs 500 crore have been lined up for the consideration of VCIC, a panel of experts in various fields who are advising Sidbi in screening the venture funds.

The panel members include T.V. Mohandas Pai, Chairman of Manipal Global Education Services; Sanjeev Bikchandani, founder of Naukri.com owner InfoEdge; Saurabh Srivastava of Indian Angel Network; Kiran Karnik, former Nasscom chief; Vaidyanathan, IIM-Bangalore; and Harkesh Mittal, programme head of innovation, entrepreneurship and technology commercialisation at the Department of Science and Technology. It also includes two senior Sidbi executives.

After the VCIC screens the funds who apply to Sidbi, the proposals are put up to an executive committee of the bank’s board for sanction. “Support under fund-of-funds operations is sector and stage-agnostic. Support has been extended to funds focused on seed, early and growth-stage funds as well as social-venture funds,“ said Shivaji. Among the venture funds Sidbi has supported through IAF are Blume Ventures, Orios, YourNest, Ivy Capital and Infuse Ventures.

This fund-of-funds has the ability to create a huge impact in the future, given that it is supporting early-stage and seed funding for start-ups, Mohandas Pai said.

“If Rs 10,000 crore is given as seed capital, it can enable at least 30,000-35,000 startups with the multiplier effect in the next five years, with a total impact of ` . 60,000-70,000 crore on the economy,“ he said.

Source: The Economic Times