Partnership aims to elevate Bihar’s startup ecosystem, fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in the state.
In a bid to elevate Bihar into a thriving startup hub, the Bihar Startup Fund Trust and the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) have joined forces to administer the INR 50 Cr Bihar Startup Scale-up Financing Fund (BSSFF).
Pankaj Dixit, IAS, director industries at the Department of Industries in Bihar government, and Arijit Dutt, general manager representing SIDBI, formalized the agreement, marking a significant milestone in Bihar’s startup journey.
The Bihar Startup Fund Trust, established by the Bihar government’s Department of Industries, serves as a nodal agency for implementing the Bihar Startup Policy. This policy aims to cultivate entrepreneurship and spur innovation by fostering a conducive ecosystem for startup growth within the state.
Under this policy framework, the trust has been endowed with an initial corpus of INR 500 Cr, from which the BSSFF has been carved out with an initial corpus of INR 50 Cr dedicated to providing scale-up funding support for startups.
“The Fund, to be managed by SIDBI, shall be in the form of a Fund of Funds,” stated the official statement. This model entails the fund contributing to the corpus of SEBI-registered Alternative Investment Funds, which in turn will invest in startups, catalyzing their growth trajectory.
This initiative aligns with Bihar’s broader efforts to stimulate entrepreneurship. In 2022, the state’s industry ministry launched the Bihar Startup Policy, offering an interest-free seed fund of INR 10 Lakh to startups over a decade, along with a product development and training grant of INR 3 Lakh for accelerator program participants.
Meanwhile, SIDBI, with its three-decade-long track record, has been instrumental in bolstering India’s startup ecosystem and providing financial services to the MSME sector. Last year, it partnered with the Odisha government to launch the INR 100 Cr Odisha Startup Growth Fund, further expanding its footprint in supporting startups nationwide.
SIDBI’s foray into venture debt and partnerships with various funds for debt investments underscores its commitment to fueling startup growth and fostering innovation across India’s entrepreneurial landscape.
