In a significant boost to the entrepreneurial landscape of Northeast India, the North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd (NEDFi) has activated three SEBI-registered venture capital funds worth Rs 165 crore to support emerging startups across the region.
In an exclusive conversation with Business North East, Prasanta Kumar Talukdar, Deputy General Manager of NEDFi, outlined how these funds are currently being deployed, with special emphasis on rural outreach, sector-agnostic investment, and cross-sectoral collaboration with public sector units (PSUs).
“We have an Rs 100 crore fund which we had started in 2017 with support from the Ministry of DoNER, and NEDFi is also contributing to that fund,” Talukdar said. “Under that fund, we still have a few crores left for investment.”
In addition, a dedicated Rs 30 crore fund in collaboration with the Government of Manipur is also active, with NEDFi contributing 50 per cent of the corpus. “This fund is focused on supporting startups from Manipur,” Talukdar noted.
The third and most recent initiative is the NRL Ideation Fund, a Rs 35 crore corpus created in partnership with Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL).
“We are thankful to NRL because they are also contributing largely to the startup ecosystem,” he said. “NEDFi has contributed to this fund as well, and with that, we have started supporting startups under this initiative.”
Together, these three active funds not only illustrate NEDFi’s growing commitment to the startup ecosystem but also signal a shift towards decentralised innovation, reaching beyond traditional urban hubs.
Despite handling targeted funds, NEDFi maintains a sector-agnostic approach to investment, keeping its doors open to startups across domains. However, it does prioritise sectors that are naturally aligned with the Northeast’s economic potential.
“We are a sector-agnostic fund,” Talukdar emphasised. “We don’t have any specific sector, but definitely, those sectors which are very much promising here in the Northeast, agribusiness and tourism, are on our priority list.”
This openness allows NEDFi to respond dynamically to evolving market trends and emerging startup ideas, particularly those rooted in local contexts. “Any kind of startup can come and showcase their business model,” he said. “They can tell us about their products or services and the kind of support they are looking for.”
When asked how NEDFi assesses startups that are still in early stages and may lack strong financials, Talukdar outlined a philosophy rooted in long-term impact and practical problem-solving.
“We ideally look at the skill set of the co-founders, the strength of the founding team,” he explained. “Even if they may not be profitable or have gained traction yet, if they are addressing a real pain area, that matters.”
Another key metric for evaluation is whether people are willing to pay for the service or product. “If no one is willing to pay for the solution, then I feel there is no business model,” he said candidly.
He also stressed that the business model should be implementable and feasible, especially in the regulatory and operational environment of the region. “At the end of the day, it’s about co-founders, the business model, and whether it’s practically implementable.”
NEDFi is often perceived as being urban-centric, especially with Guwahati being the commercial hub of the Northeast. However, Talukdar clarified that the organisation’s footprint stretches deep into rural and semi-urban territories.
“Even if you look at our portfolio companies, many are based in urban areas, but their impact is mostly in rural areas,” he said. “It’s not like we are only Guwahati-centric. We are spreading across remote geographies.”
He cited examples of NEDFi-funded startups operating out of Ziro in Arunachal Pradesh, including one working in connection with the well-known Ziro Music Festival. “We also have tourism-related projects in Mechuka,” he added, illustrating NEDFi’s reach in less-accessible regions.
Significantly, some of these startups have grown out of the region and now operate beyond the Northeast, reflecting the scalability of the ventures supported.
On the question of how much of the fund is specifically reserved for Assam, Talukdar clarified that venture capital financing doesn’t function within fixed state-wise budgets.
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“Venture capital funds run in a different landscape. We don’t keep an annual budget,” he said. “All our funds are live, and startups from Assam have already benefited from them.”
Looking forward, NEDFi is actively exploring new collaborations to expand its funding capacity. “We are discussing with other state governments, and definitely with the Ministry of DoNER,” Talukdar revealed. “With support from the Ministry and our own resources, we are going to create some more funds down the line.”
He highlighted the growing involvement of PSUs in supporting the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, expressing confidence that more entities like NRL would step in to strengthen the startup landscape. He also mentioned that NEDFi remains open to collaborating with state governments that show interest in establishing dedicated venture funds.
Talukdar concluded with a message of encouragement to budding entrepreneurs: “We are not looking for traction alone. If your business solves a real problem and has an implementable model, you can knock on our door.”
FIRST Business Portal addressing the potential of business capability of North East Region.
