A total of ₹7,980 crore has been committed to 99 Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) under the Fund of Funds Scheme (FFS) for start-ups as on December 31, 2022, said Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash, in a reply to a Parliament Question on Friday.

Of this, ₹3,400 crore has been disbursed to 72 AIFs which have, in turn, made investments of ₹14,077 crore in 791 start-ups, he said.

Further, a total of ₹477.25 crore has been approved to 133 incubators under the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) of which ₹211.63 crore has been disbursed as on December 31, 2022, the MoS said.

“As reported by SIDBI, FFS has played an important role in wealth creation, employment generation, inclusive growth and recognition for start-ups,” according to a release issued by the Commerce & Industry Ministry.

The FFS Scheme was established in 2016 in a move to prop up the Indian start-up ecosystem and enable access to domestic capital. 

Corpus for scheme

A corpus of ₹10,000 crore was earmarked for the scheme, with contribution spread over the 14th and 15th Finance Commission cycle based on progress of implementation.

The FFS does not directly invest in start-ups. It instead provides capital to SEBI-registered AIFs, known as daughter funds, which, in turn, invest money in Indian start-ups through equity and equity-linked instruments. 

SIDBI operates this fund through selection of suitable daughter funds and overseeing the disbursal of committed capital. 

AIFs supported under FFS are required to invest at least 2 times of the amount committed under FFS in start-ups.

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