What cheque size does Bharat Innovation Fund (CIIE.CO / IIM-A) write?

As compiled from public sources: ~US$1-3 Cr cheques (US$1-3M; round sizes US$2-8M, pre-Series A and Series A)

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VC fund (Cat II) · Curated list

Bharat Innovation Fund (CIIE.CO / IIM-A)

Seed · Rural / Bharat · Ahmedabad

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At a glance

Stage focus: Seed
Primary sector: Rural / Bharat
City: Ahmedabad
HQ / office: CIIE.CO / IIMA Ventures, IIM Ahmedabad New Campus, Ahmedabad-15, Gujarat, India (phone [contact on file]). Note: CIIE.CO rebranded to "IIMA Ventures" in 2024; the bharat.fund site still uses the CIIE.CO name and the [contact on file] inbox.
Fund registered: 2016
Investments on record: 7
Corpus (as reported): Bharat Innovation Fund (deep-tech) launched 2018 with a ~USD 100M target corpus (originally framed within a larger ~USD 150M "Bharat Innovation Fund" ambition announced 2015-2017). Sister Bharat Inclusion Seed Fund targeted ~USD 15-25M (2018). No single consolidated AUM figure publicly disclosed; figures not independently confirmable on the official site (the bharat.fund pages do not state a corpus number).
Website: bharat.fund
LinkedIn: Profile ↗

About

Bharat Innovation Fund is an early-stage venture capital fund launched in 2018 under the CIIE.CO "Bharat Fund" platform; CIIE.CO is the innovation/incubation arm of IIM Ahmedabad and rebranded to "IIMA Ventures" in 2024. It is a SEBI Category-I AIF backing pre-Series A / Series A IP-driven deep-tech and digital-inclusion startups, with a sister Bharat Inclusion Seed Fund. Reported managing partners include Kunal Upadhyay, Shyam Menon and Somshubhro Pal Choudhury; reported backers include SIDBI (Fund of Funds), ICICI Lombard, SBI Life, RBL Bank, Federal Bank, Philips and Bajaj Electricals. The fund's own site states it is "neither controlled by the Government of India nor by IIM Ahmedabad."

Investment focus

Stage: Pre-Series A and Series A (seed via the sister Bharat Inclusion Seed Fund). Sector: IP-driven deep-tech, fintech/digital-inclusion, agritech, healthtech, climate/renewable energy, enterprise/consumer tech.

Cheque size

~US$1-3 Cr cheques (US$1-3M; round sizes US$2-8M, pre-Series A and Series A)

As compiled from public sources — verify with the investor.

SEBI registration

SEBI AIF Category I — Venture capital — reported as “Venture Capital — deeptech / impact / inclusion (SEBI Cat-I AIF) / Cat I/Cat II”

IN/AIF1/16-17/0282
IN/AIF1/17-18/0350
IN/AIF2/21-22/0885
IN/AIF1/22-23/1066
IN/AIF1/22-23/1118
IN/AIF2/24-25/1522
IN/AIF2/24-25/1653
IN/AIF2/26-27/2129

SIDBI Fund of Funds

On the SIDBI FFS list

Funds: Bharat Innovation Fund; ANTLER INNOVATION INDIA FUND 1

Yes — on official SIDBI FFS supported-AIF list (ANTLER INNOVATION INDIA FUND 1; Bharat Innovation Fund)

Notable portfolio

CreditVidya; FireCompass; PlayShifu; Detect Technologies; Entropik Tech; Algorithmic Biologics; Setu

Team & organisation

~18-person team including 4 partners, 2 venture partners, 2 principals (founders Kunal Upadhyay, Shyam Menon)

Manager via CIIE.CO / IIMA Ventures (IIM Ahmedabad); SEBI Category I AIF (deeptech/impact), part of multi-fund CIIE platform (BIF, Bharat Inclusion Seed Fund)

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Frequently asked

What does Bharat Innovation Fund (CIIE.CO / IIM-A) invest in?: Stage: Pre-Series A and Series A (seed via the sister Bharat Inclusion Seed Fund). Sector: IP-driven deep-tech, fintech/digital-inclusion, agritech, healthtech, climate/renewable energy, enterprise/consumer tech.
What cheque size does Bharat Innovation Fund (CIIE.CO / IIM-A) write?: As compiled from public sources: ~US$1-3 Cr cheques (US$1-3M; round sizes US$2-8M, pre-Series A and Series A)
How do I pitch Bharat Innovation Fund (CIIE.CO / IIM-A) through iHub India?: Create a free startup account, open a funding round, and send a structured pitch from this profile. If the investor accepts, contact details are shared and the conversation moves into a tracked deal room.

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About this record

⚑ PRIVATE STATUS QUESTIONABLE — strong government/public-institution/DFI linkage. The fund is managed by CIIE.CO (now IIMA Ventures), a "Centre of Excellence" set up at IIM Ahmedabad (a public/government-funded institution) with support from the Govt of India's Dept of Science & Technology and the Govt of Gujarat; reported LP/anchor backers include SIDBI (a government-owned DFI); the related Bharat Inclusion Initiative was seeded by Tata Trusts, Gates Foundation, Omidyar Network and Dell Foundation. Multiple sources describe the Bharat Innovation Fund as a "public-private-academia partnership" originally tied to Ministry of New & Renewable Energy / DIPP / DST. It is a SEBI-registered private AIF and claims operational independence, but under a STRICT "purely private vehicle" requirement it does NOT cleanly qualify. PORTFOLIO/EXIT ERRORS in the input record corrected (CRED, Setu→CRED, Prefr, Kaleidofin). Name caution: "Bharat Innovation Fund" and "Bharat Inclusion Seed Fund" are distinct sibling funds under the same Bharat Fund umbrella — do not conflate corpus figures (Kaleidofin sits under the Inclusion Seed Fund, not the deep-tech Innovation Fund).

Compiled from SEBI registrations and public sources as of 2026-07. iHub India lists investors neutrally and does not endorse, rank, or verify investment terms — confirm all details directly with the investor before transacting.

Sources: https://yourstory.com/2021/08/bharat-innovation-fund-deeptech-startups; https://bharat.fund/