New Delhi, Feb 27 (IANS): Various government schemes have given momentum to the Indian venture capital (VC) industry to nurture and scale homegrown startups, investor and Info Edge Founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani said on Tuesday.

he ‘Fund of Funds for Startups’ (FFS) scheme by the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) is one such key government initiative aimed at providing financial assistance to small enterprises and startups in the country.

Asked how the government has helped the startup ecosystem grow in the last five years, Bikhchandani told IANS: "The government has played a central role in nurturing the domestic startup ecosystem, with programmes like ‘Startup India’ and many other schemes".

He stressed that the single-most important thing the government have done is "to have a SIDBI's ‘Fund of Funds’ for startups which created and gave impetus to the Indian VC industry or the risk capital industry so that we now have startups coming of age with the Indian capital which is really important".

The scheme has facilitated investments totalling about Rs 17,534 crore in 938 distinct startups (as of November 30, 2023), SIDBI said in its latest impact assessment report of the FFS scheme.

Additionally, the scheme has invested in startups in emerging sectors such as deep tech, agri/agri solutions, health tech, and financial services.

The Department of Economic Affairs, in the report titled 'The Indian Economy: A Review January 2024', has said that the 1.14 lakh startups recognised by the government under the 'Startup India initiative’ created more than 12 lakh jobs (as of October 2023).