Reliance Industries announced that it is setting up a Rs 5,000 crore venture capital firm which will invest in Indian startups over the next five years. "We also have plans to partner with thousands of Indian entrepreneurs, whose digital ventures can bloom in the ground that Jio is preparing," Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani said in the annual general meeting yesterday. "For this purpose, we have created a Jio Digital India Startup Fund and are also working to create Digital Entrepreneurship Hubs in key cities and towns of India," he added. Reliance Industries will be joining a number of other funds in India looking to capitalize on the thriving technology sector. The Hindu Business Line points out that Reliance’s fund is one of the largest venture capital fund in the country, and rival the likes of Sequoia Capital ($900 million) and Tiger Global ($1 billion). Amabani will also be joining industrialist Ratan Tata in helping out startups in the country. In February, RNT Associates, the privately held investment firm of Ratan Tata partnered with the chief investment officer’s office of the University of California, to jointly fund startups and enterprises in India over the next 10 years. Tata's fund will look to invest in various sectors, including healthcare, alternate energy etc. However, it did not disclose how much the fund will invest in each startup, or the startup selection procedure. Other recent startup funds – In July, the Karnataka government launched an initiative to offer funds worth $57 million for startups. – In March, GSK Velu…
