IIM- Ahmedabad with the centre for innovation, incubation, and entrepreneurship (CIIE) had set up ‘Bharat Inclusion Seed Fund’ in which they will invest $25 million to the pre- series a technology start-ups.Initial pledge of $12.5 million received from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, and Omidyar Network.
Bharat Inclusion Initiative
Bharat Inclusion Initiative aims to invest about USD 25 million in start-ups working in the areas of health, livelihood, education and financial inclusion over the next three to four years. CIIE main focus is to channelize approximately USD 25 million over the next 3-4 years towards backing game-changing start-ups leveraging the ongoing digital transformation in India. Tata Trusts is acting as the seed support and giving them the initial commitment of USD 12.5 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, and Omidyar Network. Also, USD 5 million is included for providing support to start-ups through a series of acceleration programs, focused research, training workshops and piloting partnerships.
The fund announced its initial close at $7.5 million and is expected to make a final close at $15 million by July. The Bharat Inclusion Initiative is set up to deliver a continuum solutions to the inclusion-focused tech entrepreneurs across the pre-incubation, seed and scale-up stage and helping them jump to the next orbit.
Santhosh Ramdoss who is the director of India programmes at the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation which is a large portion of urban poor families in India do not have any formal access to financial services. “We are presented with a landmark opportunity to take on this challenge, given India’s leadership in building a cutting-edge public technology infrastructure that can be used to seamlessly deliver a variety of critical digital services to low-income families,” said Ramdoss in a statement.
CIIE which is based on three critical enablers i.e capability , capital and community to fast- track their journey from ideas into the viable businesses while creating a positive and sustainable impact.
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