Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor Corporation has floated a Rs 340-crore (about $41 million) social impact fund to invest in startups in the domains of agriculture, financial inclusion, rural supply chain, and rural mobility.
The alternative investment fund, Next Bharat Ventures, is registered in GIFT City, Gujarat, will offer a four-month residency programme for early-stage entrepreneurs, the parent of top Indian carmaker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd said.
The fund’s maiden cohort is scheduled to commence from October 2024. The startups selected for the cohort will then receive investments ranging from Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore. The fund aims to invest in around 20 startups in one year.
Next Bharat Ventures is Suzuki's first investment fund in India and will focus on “nurturing and empowering” impact entrepreneurs, said Toshihiro Suzuki, president and chief executive officer, Suzuki Motor. “These impact entrepreneurs will also get access to the Suzuki Group network and resources,” he said.
The fund also aims to invest in growth-stage startups. In an interaction with VCCircle, the fund’s managing director and chief executive officer Vipul Nath Jindal said that it aims to invest around $1 million in growth-stage startups.
“The Next Bharat investment framework focuses on horizontal scaling, aiming to create hundreds of profitable SMEs over a fund cycle, rather than concentrating on creating just two or three unicorns per fund cycle,” said Jindal.
