$150-million India-UAE VC Fund set up to boost start-up ecosystem

A $150-million India-UAE venture capital fund to fuel growth of start-ups in India and the UAE was launched on Tuesday from the India Pavilion at EXPO2020 Dubai.

Ajai Chowdhry, HCL Founder and Chairman-Start-up Committee, FICCI, announced the launch of this fund. The VC Fund is a first-of-its-kind to be set up in the UAE to source, invest and nurture promising start-ups through an accelerator to fuel the growth of India-UAE start-ups. It will be funded by investors across UAE, India and wider GCC countries.

The Fund will also act as a catalyst to provide a process for developing early-stage start-ups in India and the UAE into viable global ventures and making them attain the unicorn level. It will target to invest in a minimum of 50 demonstrated and validated start-ups based in India and the UAE over a period of 5 years, turning 10 unicorns by 2025, an official release said.

An MoU was signed to launch this Fund in the presence of Saurabh Srivastava Chairman, Indian Angel Network & Co-Founder, NASSCOM, Founder of TiE, K. Kalimuthu, Consul (Eco & Com), Consulate General of India, Dubai, Padmaja Ruparel, Co-Founder- Indian Angel Network & President of IAN Fund, S. Venkatesh, Managing Partner, MCA Management Consultants, R Lakshmanan, Senior Partner MCA Management Consultants and Nirankar Saxena, Deputy Secretary-General, FICCI.

Investment opportunities

Chowdhry said in his virtual address that the fund will bring investment opportunities to start-ups in India and the UAE. The Indian Angel Network Fund (IAN) will offer benefits to the investors from the UAE including the experience and knowledge that India offers. “We are delighted to witness this collaboration and hope to see great results in the near future,” he said.

Srivastava saidthat in recent years, new processes have been developed keeping in mind the changing needs of the economy, be it in technology, EVs, FinTech, Agriculture or Communication, which would get a boost through this VC Fund. “The Indian start-up ecosystem is maturing fast, and India aims to be the No.1 start-up ecosystem in the world,” he added  

Kalimuthu said, “The present start-up ecosystem is giving ample opportunities for the youth to bring their potential entrepreneurship capabilities. However, the unavailability of capital is the main obstacle in realising their full potential. This fund will help the young start-ups grow and help them contribute to economic growth and employment opportunities.”

Padmaja Ruparel said “India has 60,000+ start-ups which is a testimony to the entrepreneur mindset of the young Indian generation and innovative solutions being developed. IAN is excited to participate in the VC Fund as a founding member and grow the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the UAE by expanding its investor base and sharing its expertise in developing an accelerator.”