A joint investment by Pramod Bhasin, Founder and former CEO of Genpact, and Vikram Gandhi, former Vice-Chiarman, Credit Suisse and Founder of Asha Impact, into Bengaluru-based Unitus Seed Fund (USF) was announced on Monday. USF is a venture seed fund that supports start-ups through seed funding, securing capital growth and providing strategic and operating support.

“We are very pleased to have the support of business leaders like Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Bhasin who have passion for the social enterprise sector as leadership investors in our SEBI-registered seed fund. Our portfolio companies will also benefit greatly from their advice and networks as they prepare to scale up across India,” said Srikrishna Ramamoorthy, Partner, USF.

The company, which has raised over $20 million in both its offshore and India Fund over the last three years, invests across sectors, including healthcare, agriculture, education, mobile commerce etc. It has also recently announced 16 investments in the country. These include online micro-lending platform 'Milaap', a single brand retailer sourcing handcrafted artisan products called 'Caravan Craft', 'm-Gaadi' (‘Uber’ for auto-risckshaws), and 'Hippocampus' (a rural education services company).

"Our country faces many socio-economic challenges and it is imperative that the markets and socially inclined entrepreneurs play a much larger role in addressing them. Through our investment in Unitus Seed Fund, we look forward to using our experience and expertise to empower ground-level enterprises built around business models that are scalable and can positively impact lives of the low-income masses," said Bhasin.

"Our investment in Unitus Seed Fund is meant to handhold such early-stage entrepreneurs, provide them with funding and expertise and lead them to successful commercialization and scaling up of their innovations," added Gandhi.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW