Bengaluru: Unitus Seed Fund, which has backed start-ups including online micro-lending platform Milaap and retailer Caravan Craft, has received investments from Genpact founder and former chief executive Pramod Bhasin and former vice-chairman of investment banking and global head of the financial institutions group at Credit Suisse Vikram Gandhi.
Bhasin and Gandhi did not disclose the amount they have invested or the names of the start-ups they plan to fund.
The fund, aimed at investing in Indian start-ups that have the potential to reduce poverty, has raised over $20 million in both its offshore and India fund over the past three years. It counts many leading businessmen such as Microsoft founder Bill Gates, former Infosys chief financial officer T.V. Mohandas Pai and former Microsoft India CEO Ravi Venkatesan as its investors.
“We look forward to using our experience and expertise to empower ground-level enterprises built around business models that are scalable and can positively impact lives of the low-income masses,” Bhasin said in a statement on Monday.
Gandhi, founder of impact investment and policy advocacy organisation Asha Impact, said the joint investment was meant to handhold early-stage entrepreneurs, provide them with funding and expertise, and help them to scale up businesses.
“While social entrepreneurs often come up with breakthrough ideas and innovations to fulfil the needs of underserved segments of society, they are hamstrung with insufficient funding, regulatory hurdles, lack of key competencies and business models that are not fully evolved,” Gandhi said.
