Bharat Inclusion Initiative by IIMA Ventures

₹46.5 lakh+ tranched grant capital plus incubation for fintech, livelihoods and skilling startups serving low-income India.

Bharat Inclusion Initiative (BII) is IIMA Ventures' long-running program backing for-profit startups that bring the benefits of technology to India's underserved — nano-entrepreneurs, low-income and gig workers, women and migrants. The current edition is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.

Each selected startup receives ₹46.5 lakh or more in financial support, disbursed in tranches tied to milestones agreed in a Service Agreement signed between the startup and IIMA Ventures. Utilization certificates are required against each tranche. In return, IIMA Ventures takes a mentoring equity of 3–5% as the startup is onboarded as an incubatee — so this is structured incubation funding, not a pure non-dilutive grant.

Beyond the capital, BII layers in contextual support: domain experts from fintech, financial inclusion, gig livelihoods and skilling; market access via partnerships for product development, pilots and scale-up; visibility through corporate meetups, demo days and partner events; structured fund-raising support from pitch readiness to deal closure; and cloud credits and other partner-led perks.

BII focuses on three pillars: (1) Fintech — credit for income enhancement, financial resilience (insurance, savings, money management), rural payments and grievance management, and DPI building blocks like ONDC, Account Aggregator, OCEN and the Unified Lending Interface; (2) Livelihoods and skilling — integrated skilling and job platforms, gig-economy enablers in smaller cities, ONDC/ONEST-led DPI plays, AI-driven workforce reskilling, and micro-entrepreneur capacity solutions; (3) Inclusion at scale — at least a part of customers/beneficiaries must come from lower-income segments (typically earning under ₹50,000/month).

The engagement runs with regular check-ins for up to a year, with the empanelled impact measurement agency tracking outcomes over the program duration (up to 2028). Selected startups may also be considered for follow-on grants, convertible debt and investor introductions through IIMA Ventures' broader programs, though additional funding is not guaranteed.