Kerala plans to set up venture capital fund for start-ups: CM Vijayan

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], January 19 (ANI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said that his Government is looking into the possibility of setting up a dedicated Venture Capital (VC) fund for start-ups in the state.
"A proposal to set up the VC fund with the backing of public sector Kerala Bank and Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) is under active consideration. The proposals for start-ups announced in the state budget for 2021-22 will be implemented at the earliest," Vijayan said during an interaction with start-up founders, organised by Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM).
KSUM is the nodal agency for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.
The government is all set to support the start-up companies in the state in various ways besides VC funds, like opening up the government market for the start-up consortiums and hiking the special fund for start-up development.
"It's the policy of the government to offer necessary financial aid to start-ups to blossom. The government will consider increasing the special fund for the development of start-ups. Besides, the state will take further measures to enable entrepreneurs to improve their skills," the Chief Minister said.
The government has decided to form an 'International Launching Pad' for start-ups from 2021.
Elaborating on various schemes, Vijayan said "Women entrepreneurs will get up to Rs 15 lakh as loan. Start-ups led by women have been given a moratorium of two years for the aid from KSUM. For facilitating the investment of NRIs in start-ups, there are programs like annual Seeding Kerala event and monthly Investor Cafe."
The Chief Minister said start-ups have already been given complete exemption in their rent for four months and there will be a partial exemption in the rent amount for the next three months.
Around 100 start-up founders, 70 of them online, made suggestions and demands for further strengthening the start-up ecosystem in the state. (ANI)