The Hindu Business Line : Rs 75-cr fund to promote tech start-ups soon

Hyderabad, Nov. 15 A Rs 75-crore fund to promote start-ups involved in product development in the areas of information and communication technology’s (ICT), will be launched soon by the Centre.

The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) will operate the fund with the active involvement of the Indian School of Business (ISB), TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc).

According to Mr A.S. Rao, Advisor, DSIR, the fund will focus on helping start-ups to convert intellectual property into product developments. As there are not many funds for technology start-up, the idea of the Government is to promote core product development, he told newspersons on the sidelines of the TiE-ISB meet, here.

To get help from ISB, TiE

Mr Rao said the Government will take the help of the ISB and TiE in examining the viability of the business models proposed by the start-ups, while the IISc, Bangalore would validate the technological competencies.

This would be the first fund to be totally funded by the Centre during the XI Plan, which is likely to be finalised in December. “The Union Minister for Science and Technology will make a formal announcement after the finalisation of the Plan,” Mr Rao added.

Modalities such as allocation of the quantum of fund for the start-up projects are being examined. Similarly, efforts would be made to rope in more funding agencies by setting an example through the fund operations, Mr Rao said. The Dean of the ISB, Mr Rammohan Rao, said it was the first initiative of the TiE-ISB in partnering with the Government in promoting start ups.

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