The government on Monday formally launched the India Inclusive Innovation Fund (IIIF) with the initial corpus of Rs 500 crore.

Envisaged by the National Innovation Council and the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), the IIIF will make investments in innovative ventures in areas like food, nutrition, healthcare, agriculture, education & skill development, energy, water, sanitation, job generation etc.

Sam Pitroda, advisor to the Prime Minister on public information, infrastructure & innovation, said the new fund would address the social needs of less privileged people.

At the launch of the fund, Pitroda said, "The needs of people at the base of the economic pyramid are today served by philanthropy ., which can never be either adequate or scalable. IIIF seeks to leverage the model of venture capital to transform the lives of the less privileged."

The IIIF has been launched nearly three years after it was originally announced by the government. Of the initial corpus of Rs 500 crore, Rs 100 crore would be provided by the MSMEs, while the remaining amount would come from banks and foreign financial investors.

The fund is expected to scale up to Rs 5,000 crore over the next couple of years. To scale up the corpus, Pitroda will approach foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and others.