Venture capital funds registered with Sebi will now be supported by Sidbi (Small Industries Development Bank of India), which has been assigned a fund with a corpus of Rs.60 crores to invest in startups in the rural and agro space. The fund is a part of a major initiative by the ministry of medium and small enterprises (MSME), under “A Scheme for Promotion of Innovation and Rural Entrepreneurship and agro industry (ASPIRE)” with an aggregate corpus of Rs.200 crores for promoting innovation and rural entrepreneurship through rural livelihood business incubators, technology business incubators and fund of funds. Rs.19.50 crores has already been sanctioned to two venture capital funds and one more proposal for commitment of contribution of Rs.10 crores is under process.

(Economic Times)