Lok Sabha Question No. 2879 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-08-07
Subject: North East Venture Fund
Ministry: DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EASTERN REGION
Asked by: Pradyut Bordoloi

## Government of India

## Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2879

To be answered on

## Monday, August 7, 2023/ Sravana 16, 1945 (Saka) QUESTION

North East Venture Fund

## 2879   SHRI PRADYUT BORDOLOI:

Will  the  Minister  of  Development  of  North  Eastern  Region  be  pleased  to state:

- (a) the  details  of  the  investment  in  startups  by  the  North  East  Venture  Fund (NEVF)  since  its  inception  in  terms  of  the  amount  invested,  valuation  of  the startups, location, sector etc;
- (b) the details of the employment generated through such start-ups and unique business  opportunities,  including  the  details  of  skilled  and  unskilled  labours  and female participation, State-wise and year-wise;

(c) the steps taken by the Government to ensure transparency and accountability in the selection and disbursement of funds through NEVF; whether  the  Government  is  taking  any  initiatives  to  attract  domestic  and

- (d) international investors to contribute in NEVF and if so, the details thereof;  and
- (e) the strategies and initiatives of the Government to augment entrepreneurship opportunities among marginalised and tribal communities, promote women entrepreneurs and support startups in remote areas?

## ANSWER

## The Minister of the Ministry of  Development of North Eastern Region [SHRI.G.KISHAN REDDY]

- (a) The details  of  the  investment  in  startups  by  the  North  East  Venture  Fund (NEVF) since its inception in terms of the amount invested,  location and sector is given at Annexure-I.

Valuing  a  start-up  is  linked  to  a  future  date  (deferred  valuation  method) based  on  subsequent  round  of  funds  raised  from  other  investors.  Based  on investor  opinion,  market  conditions,  and  the  company's  development,  valuations may change in various funding rounds.

(b) The  startups,  supported  by  NEVF,  have  identified  the  unique  business opportunities  available  in  the  region  and  have  provided  value  added  solutions  to the consumers through their products and services. The details of the employment generated  through  these  start-ups  including  the  details  of  skilled  and  unskilled labours and female participation, State-wise and year-wise is given at Annexure-II.

- (c) NEVF is registered as a Category I Venture Capital Fund under Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Alternative Investment Funds (AIF) Regulations,  2012.  Further,  an  independent  committee  (Investment  Committee) comprising of experienced professionals from the field of venture funding, private equity, developmental banking etc takes the investment decision. As a regulatory requirement,  periodic  reporting  on  the  operation/compliances  of  regulation  is placed before the contributors of NEVF and other concerned bodies in a structured manner.  In  addition,  fund  operation  is  also  monitored  by  Reserve  Bank  of  India (RBI) and Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) in the form of periodic audit.
- (d) NEVF was established  as  a close  ended fund  with  a target corpus of Rs. 100 crore. It  has  already received its targeted corpus  with contribution  of Rs.  30 crore from North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd. (NEDFi), Rs. 25 crore from Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and Rs. 45 crore from Ministry  of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER). However, the contribution of MDoNER was given to NEDFi as interest free loan to be repayable in lump sum at the end of 15 years.
- (e) To  augment  entrepreneurship  opportunities  among  marginalized  sections, NEDFi has established its branch network across all the states of NER which reach out  to  their  startups  through  their  business  meets  wherein  the  details  of  venture funds are explained. This has resulted in NEVF reaching and funding startups from

Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Meghalaya. A pipeline of proposals are at various stages of processing from the states of Nagaland and Mizoram also. Many of these startups  are  led  by  women  co-founders.  To  further  its  attempt  to  reach  to  the remote areas of NER to support startups, NEVF had conducted Startup Investment Fest,  an  online  application  process  for  investment,  in  March,  2022.  The  fest  has seen a lot of enthusiasm from far flung region of NER.

****

## Annexure-I

## Investment in startups by the North East Venture Fund (NEVF) since inception

(Rs. in lakh)

|   Sl No. | Name of the Startup                              |   Amount Invested | Location          | Sector                 |
|----------|--------------------------------------------------|-------------------|-------------------|------------------------|
|        1 | Fareast Tourism Development Pvt Ltd              |              90   | Arunachal Pradesh | Tourism                |
|        2 | PWLO Entertainment Pvt Ltd                       |              50   | Arunachal Pradesh | Tourism                |
|        3 | ERC Eye Care Pvt Ltd                             |             300   | Assam             | Healthcare             |
|        4 | Automovill Technologies Pvt Ltd                  |             380   | Assam             | Mobility               |
|        5 | Terra Blue Exploration Technologi es Pvt Ltd     |             200   | Assam             | Healthcare             |
|        6 | Parking Rhino Online Services Pvt Ltd            |             365   | Assam             | Mobility               |
|        7 | Pratyaksha Agrotech Pvt Ltd                      |             400   | Assam             | Biotech                |
|        8 | Northeast Flavors India Pvt Ltd                  |             172.5 | Assam             | Food Processing        |
|        9 | Symbiotic Foods Pvt Ltd                          |             250   | Assam             | Agri & Allied          |
|       10 | Izake Design & Consultancy Pvt Ltd               |              25   | Assam             | Handloom & Handicrafts |
|       11 | Atvi Infotainment Pvt Ltd                        |             300   | Assam             | Media & Entertainment  |
|       12 | Olatus Systems Pvt Ltd                           |              35   | Assam             | Internet of Things     |
|       13 | Invicto Software Solutions Pvt Ltd               |             450   | Assam             | Software as a Service  |
|       14 | OSK Food & Technology Pvt Ltd                    |              50   | Assam             | Food & Beverage        |
|       15 | Etash Delivery Technologies Pvt Ltd              |             500   | Assam             | Logistics              |
|       16 | Zerund Manufacturing Pvt Ltd                     |             260   | Assam             | Construction           |
|       17 | KraftInn Home Decore India Pvt Ltd               |              50   | Assam             | Handloom & Handicrafts |
|       18 | My3dselfie Pvt Ltd                               |             400   | Assam             | Software as a Service  |
|       19 | Ruloi Tea Trading Pvt Ltd                        |             112   | Assam             | Food & Beverage        |
|       20 | Encamp Tourism Pvt Ltd                           |             100   | Assam             | Tourism                |
|       21 | Aqua Blue Global Aquaculture Solutions Pvt. Ltd. |              50   | Assam             | Agri & Allied          |
|       22 | QWKPRO Consultancy Pvt Ltd                       |              30   | Assam             | Healthcare             |
|       23 | Bright crop Agro Products Private                |              50   | Assam             | Agri & Allied          |

|       | Limited                               |        |           |                        |
|-------|---------------------------------------|--------|-----------|------------------------|
| 24    | Avgarde Systems Pvt Ltd               |  100   | Assam     | Internet of Things     |
| 25    | Respirit Healthcare Pvt Ltd           |   25   | Assam     | Healthcare             |
| 26    | Binbag Environmental Services Pvt Ltd |   75   | Assam     | Waste Management       |
| 27    | Thangvung Privilege Services Pvt Ltd  |   25   | Manipur   | Loyalty Marketing      |
| 28    | Taret Foods Pvt Ltd                   |   65   | Manipur   | Food Processing        |
| 29    | Hills Land Ed Tech Pvt Ltd            |   50   | Manipur   | Education              |
| 30    | Twosis Garden Pvt Ltd                 |   45   | Manipur   | Food Processing        |
| 31    | Tantha Entertainment Pvt Ltd          |  150   | Manipur   | Media & Entertainment  |
| 32    | Green Biotech Ecosolution Pvt Ltd     |  300   | Manipur   | Biotech                |
| 33    | Eri Weave Pvt Ltd                     |   35   | Meghalaya | Handloom & Handcrafted |
| 34    | Shillong Bamboo Pvt Ltd               |   45   | Meghalaya | Bamboo                 |
| 35    | Ruralnomics Pvt Ltd                   |   25   | Meghalaya | E-commerce             |
| 36    | Topview Infolabs (P) Limited          |  100   | Sikkim    | Tourism                |
| 37    | Aaharan Edusmart Pvt Ltd              |   25   | Tripura   | Education              |
| Total | Total                                 | 5684.5 |           |                        |

## Annexure-II

## Employment generated through NEVF supported start-ups

| Financial Year   | State             |   Male |   Female |   Total |   Skilled |   Unskilled |
|------------------|-------------------|--------|----------|---------|-----------|-------------|
| 2017-18          | Assam             |    135 |      120 |     255 |       109 |         146 |
|                  | Sub-Total         |    135 |      120 |     255 |       109 |         146 |
| 2018-19          | Assam             |   1307 |      374 |    1681 |        92 |        1589 |
|                  | Sub-Total         |   1307 |      374 |    1681 |        92 |        1589 |
| 2019-20          | Arunachal Pradesh |     15 |        7 |      22 |         6 |          16 |
|                  | Assam             |     84 |       29 |     113 |        63 |          50 |
|                  | Manipur           |     24 |        8 |      32 |        31 |           1 |
|                  | Sub-Total         |    123 |       44 |     167 |       100 |          67 |
| 2020-21          | Arunachal Pradesh |     62 |        7 |      69 |         6 |          63 |
|                  | Assam             |    827 |       93 |     920 |        87 |         833 |
|                  | Manipur           |    232 |       43 |     275 |        35 |         240 |
|                  | Mizoram           |    125 |       13 |     138 |        11 |         127 |
|                  | Sikkim            |     62 |        7 |      69 |         6 |          63 |
|                  | Tripura           |     10 |        4 |      14 |         4 |          10 |
|                  | Sub-Total         |   1318 |      167 |    1485 |       149 |        1336 |
| 2021-22          | Assam             |    237 |       53 |     290 |        77 |         213 |
|                  | Manipur           |     26 |        6 |      32 |        16 |          16 |
|                  | Sub-Total         |    263 |       59 |     322 |        93 |         229 |
| 2022-23          | Assam             |    679 |      101 |     780 |        99 |         681 |
|                  | Meghalaya         |     29 |       11 |      40 |        32 |           8 |
|                  | Manipur           |     12 |       10 |      22 |        17 |           5 |
|                  | Sikkim            |     21 |       14 |      35 |        22 |          13 |
|                  | Sub-Total         |    741 |      136 |     877 |       170 |         707 |
| 2023-24          | Assam             |     11 |        4 |      15 |        13 |           2 |
|                  | Arunachal Pradesh |      8 |        2 |      10 |        10 |           0 |
|                  | Sub-Total         |     19 |        6 |      25 |        23 |           2 |
|                  | Total             |   3906 |      906 |    4812 |       736 |        4076 |