‘Next Startup Fund of Funds to boost deep-tech firms’

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said the government will dedicate the next edition of the Startup Fund of Funds almost entirely to deep-tech ventures, underscoring India’s ambition to shift from being the world’s back office to a global innovation engine.

- Rhik Kundu

“Our startup fund of funds’ second edition, we are hoping to dedicate almost entirely to Deep Tech investments, particularly early-stage investments before the product matures,” Goyal said at an event in the national capital. “The risk capital will ensure that our friends from the tech ecosystem don’t end up selling a large part of their equity at a very early stage to venture capitalists or foreign funds.”

Goyal said the Centre’s proposed ₹1 trillion Anusandhan Fund will provide long-tenure, low-cost loans to promote innovation.