About: Ambedkar Social Innovation and Incubation Mission (ASIIM)

Objectives of ASIIM:

  • Promote entrepreneurship among the Scheduled Caste (SC) youth, with special preference to Divyangs.

  • Support, promote and hand-hold the start-up ideas till they reach commercial stage by providing equity support.

  • Incentivise students with innovative mind-set to take up entrepreneurship with confidence.

Provisions under ASIIM:

  • 1,000 SC youth with start-up ideas would be identified in the next 4 years (till 2024), in various higher educational institutions.

  • They will be funded up to Rs. 30 lakhs in 3 years as equity funding so that they can translate their start-up ideas into commercial ventures.

  • Successful ventures would further qualify for funding of up to Rs. 5 Crore from the Venture Capital Fund for SCs.

Equity funding:

  • Equity funding is a form of financing in which a business owner sells a partial stake in the company to an investor, for a specific amount of money.

  • For example, a business owner might offer 2% of their company in exchange for US $20,000.

  • This form of financing enables a business to receive the capital it needs without taking on additional debt.

Eligibility:

  • The following SC/Divyang youth would be eligible for support under ASIIM:
    • Youth who have been identified by the Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) being promoted by Department of Science & Technology.

    • Youth who are identified by reputed private TBIs.

    • Students who have been awarded under the Smart India Hackathon or Smart India Hardware Hackathon being conducted by Ministry of Education.

    • Innovative ideas focusing on the socio-economic development of the society identified in the TBIs.

    • Start-ups nominated and supported by corporates through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds.



Business Incubator:

  • A business incubator is a company thathelps in the development of early-stage companies and start-ups by providing various services and resources to them.

 

Potential impact of ASIIM

  • The initiative will promote innovation in the SC youth and would help them to become job-givers from job-seekers.

  • It would give a further boost to the Stand Up India initiative.

 


Venture Capital Fund for SCs (VCF-SC)

  • The ASIIM initiative will be implemented by the Venture Capital Fund for SCs which was set up in 2016, with the fund size of Rs. 500 crore.

  • The fund was launched to develop entrepreneurship among the SC/Divyang youth by providing concessional finance to them.

  • Since its inception, VCF-SC has sanctioned financial assistance to 118 companies with an amount of Rs. 444.14 crore.

 Economics