SIDBI developing online platform to bring together startups, investors

New Delhi: Government-owned SIDBI is developing an online platform which will bring together startups and investors with the aim to facilitate the funding requirements of budding entrepreneurs, a senior official said on Friday.

Shruti Singh, Joint Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) said that the portal is likely to be ready in the next two months.

"SIDBI is developing this portal…You will have SEBI-registered AIFs (Alternate Investment Funds) on it. They will be one who would be interested in putting the money into the startups.

"They will also mention the sectors in which they are looking at and as a startup, if I want to go and raise money from the market, I will register myself on the portal. Depending on my sector and whether an AIF is looking at an early stage or late-stage funding, that match-making will happen," Singh told reporters here.

After that match-making, pitching would take place and then the funding actually happens, she added.

With this portal, startups would not have to look for AIFs outside.

"It's an investor startup match-making portal…Funds will register on it and startups that want funding will also register and matchmaking will happen through AI (Artificial Intelligence)," she said.

Talking about the Fund of Funds scheme, she said that under this SIDBI have committed more than Rs 7,000 crore to 86 AIFs and out of this, almost Rs 2,600 crore have been disbursed to more than 60 AIFs.

From this Rs 2,600 crore, the AIFs have been able to raise Rs 9,400 crore from the market.

On Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS), she said that under this, the DPIIT has so far approved money to over 100 incubators and 436 startups have been able to benefit from this scheme.

"It is for four years, this is just the first year," she added.

A corpus of Rs 10,000 crore has been sanctioned under the Fund of Funds scheme, spread over 14th and 15th Finance Commission cycles.

As many as 72,000 startups are recognised by the DPIIT. They get incentives such as income tax exemptions.

(With PTI inputs)

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