Bharat Innovation Fund

Bharat Innovation Fund (BIF) is an Ahmedabad-based, deep-tech-focused venture firm launched in 2018 under the aegis of CIIE.CO, the Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship continuum at IIM Ahmedabad, and co-founded by Ashwin Raguraman, who had earlier run the India Innovation Fund. A SEBI Category-I AIF with a $100 million corpus — allocated across BIF and the sister Bharat Inclusion Seed Fund — it was created specifically to back IP-driven deep-tech and breakthrough-innovation startups that typically fall outside most VCs' profiles and deal flow at the earliest stages, where the first product is expensive and slow to build. BIF invests across Seed to Series B, with initial cheques generally between ₹3 and ₹15 crore, in sectors spanning AI, AR/VR, IoT, machine learning and big data applied to healthcare, agriculture, renewable energy and advanced technology; the Inclusion Seed Fund writes ₹2–6 crore into India-Stack-based products for the next billion users. As high-touch investors, the team focuses on de-risking technology, regulatory and execution challenges over long gestation cycles. Its portfolio of around 27 companies includes PlayShifu, Entropik Tech, CreditVidya, Detect Technologies, Portl, Optimized Electrotech and Virohan, with one unicorn (CRED) and acquisitions in Setu and Prefr. Its institutional LPs include SIDBI's Fund of Funds, ICICI Lombard, SBI Life, RBL Bank and Federal Bank, and a second fund is planned.