Maharashtra to launch Rs 200 cr fund to invest in women-led startups

Maharashtra will launch a Rs 200-crore fund to invest in deep tech startups from the state, which are preferably led by women and socially relevant, a senior official said on Friday.

The "Maharashtra Innovation and Technological Development Fund" will be a Rs 200 crore corpus for early-stage startups in the state, Manisha Verma, the principal secretary for skills, employment, entrepreneurship and innovation department, said while addressing a Tiecon event here.

"The fund will have a special focus on deep/tech, women-led businesses and socially relevant startups," she said in her presentation at the annual summit.

Verma said the state is also mulling to launch a seed fund for startups, but did not share details of the same.

The state already has a slew of vehicles to make equity investments in startups, which have been launched in association with finance players having domain expertise, she added.

These include the Rs 120-crore Maharashtra Social Venture Fund, managed by the Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi), Rs 330-crore Maharashtra State Defence and Aerospace Fund and Rs 80-crore fund for entrepreneurs hailing from marginalised communities --managed by IDBI Capital, she said.

The official, who looks after the Maharashtra State Innovation Society, said the annual "Maharashtra Startup week" is on right now and urged businesses to apply with entries for the same.

She said in the last four editions of the event, 96 startups have received orders of over Rs 14 crore through their participation.

Verma also said that a bulk of startups are coming up in the clusters like Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Aurangabad and Nagpur, and exhorted entrepreneurs to go deeper into other parts of the state.

She said special attention is being paid by the state on skilling to ensure that the right talent is available for companies where they need it.