Venture Capital Fund for Scheduled Castes

 

Venture Capital Fund for Scheduled Castes 2026: Objectives, Eligibility, Finance and ASIIM

The Venture Capital Fund for Scheduled Castes (VCF-SC) is a Social Sector Initiative of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

It was launched on 16 January 2015 to promote entrepreneurship among Scheduled Castes.

The fund provides concessional finance to SC entrepreneurs, particularly those working in innovation and growth-oriented sectors.

Important Features

  • Ministry: Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment

  • Launch: 2015

  • Nodal/implementing agency: IFCI

  • Objective: promote entrepreneurship among SCs.

  • Focus: innovation, growth technologies and employment generation.

  • It operates as a fund under the Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) framework.

  • Women SC entrepreneurs receive preference under the scheme's eligibility framework.

Recent Information

As of December 2025, the fund had a corpus of ₹750 crore and had sanctioned ₹587.66 crore to 140 companies, according to government information.

The concessional financing range was reported as ₹10 lakh to ₹15 crore, with an interest rate of 4% per annum, with a lower rate for women and Divyang SC entrepreneurs.

ASIIM

The Ambedkar Social Innovation and Incubation Mission (ASIIM) was launched in 2020 under VCF-SC to promote innovation among SC students, researchers and entrepreneurs.

Key Pointers

  • VCF-SC → Social Justice Ministry

  • Launched → 2015

  • Nodal agency → IFCI

  • Target group → Scheduled Caste entrepreneurs

  • Finance → Concessional

  • ASIIM → Innovation/incubation support.