Bharat Inclusion Initiative (BII), set up by the IIM-Ahmedabad’s Center for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) to support innovative ventures leveraging; technology to boost inclusion, on Thursday, announced its first investment in Chennai-based Kaleidofin out of its seed fund.

Kaleidofin is a financial technology platform that enables customers in the informal sector to achieve their life goals by providing tailored financial solutions. It was founded by veterans of the financial inclusion sector, Sucharita Mukherjee, former CEO of IFMR Holdings, and Puneet Gupta, former CFO of IFMR Holdings, according to a press release here.

In May, CIIE announced its $ 25 million (Rs. 175 crore) BII which aims to reduce the cost of delivering products to the under-served, thus bringing them into the formal systems, said Sanjay Jain, Chief Innovation Officer, CIIE.

Kaleidofin plans to be the financial advisor for approximately 60 crore Indians in the informal sector. It has partnered with many non-banking finance companies and financial institutions.

Jain said the fund will support early stage ventures, particularly in the field of financial services, skill development and livelihood generation and will invest up to Rs 3 crores per company.

BII is an incubator platform that provides entrepreneurs the domain knowledge, training, financial support, mentorship, and market access they need to bring inclusive, for-profit business to life. Its core design is to promote technology-driven entrepreneurship towards the delivery of affordable services to the poorest 20 crore people in India.

Kaleidofin currently operates in Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

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