LIC, EPFO keen to set up funds for startups
New Delhi, Aug. 16: Life Insurance Corporation of India and Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) have expressed their willingness to set up funds for startups to help budding entrepreneurs, a senior official said on Monday.
Additional secretary in the Department for Promotion for Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Anil Agrawal said it was decided that a portal will be developed by the Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) for funding startups.
These issues came up in the meeting of the National Startup Advisory Council.
Agrawal said several initiatives are underway to strengthen the startup ecosystem. About 16 programmes have been identified, he said.
Agrawal also said Manoj Kohli from SoftBank wants to make a national mentorship programme.
"Today chairman LIC was there (in the meeting). He committed to set up a fund for startups," he said, adding the EPFO too has expressed the willingness
for setting up an investment fund for startups.
Further, he said high networth individuals would be onboarded to become angel investors, as India has only 6,000 angel investors, while the US has 3 lakh.
"We are also looking" at how to make the Startup Champions programme more effective in its second version so that the story reaches villages as well, the official said.
Meanwhile, an official statement said commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal chaired the meeting of the council.
The minister said the implementation of ideas of financing, mentorship, taxation will enable in strengthening the startup ecosystem further.