As VC firm Arkam Ventures announces its second fund today focused on backing “middle India”, which is entrepreneurs beyond metros solving problems for half-a-billion people in Bharat, Chirantan Patnaik of BII speaks about why they decided to work with Arkam and the opportunities he sees in India’s startup ecosystem. Edited excerpts:
Q. While BII has been investing in India for a long time, give us a very brief history BII’s first engagement with the VC industry in India
BII is the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor. It invests $1.5 billion to $2 billion a year across all its markets to help create productive, sustainable and inclusive economies.