Now Reading: Suzuki VC arm NBV impacts 2 million lives in India
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Suzuki VC arm NBV impacts 2 million lives in India
Next Bharat Ventures (NBV), the impact venture capital arm of Suzuki Motor Corporation, said its first cohort of 21 portfolio startups has impacted more than two million people across India. NBV, established…
Next Bharat Ventures (NBV), the impact venture capital arm of Suzuki Motor Corporation, said its first cohort of 21 portfolio startups has impacted more than two million people across India. NBV, established in 2024, deployed Rs 347 crore through its first fund and has now launched a second fund of Rs 2,000 crore backed by Suzuki Motor Corporation, Hakuhodo DY Holdings, Shizuoka Bank, Kanematsu Group and Toyota Tsusho.
An impact report released by the firm said incomes of farmers, including tribal farmers, grew 75% year-on-year, while artisans and street vendors saw income growth of 93% and 25%, respectively. NBV's five startups serving the informal economy have impacted 14.7 lakh people and recorded revenue growth of 60.05%. Its 16 rural-focused portfolio companies have impacted nearly five lakh people and reported revenue growth of 186.13%.
Revenue across NBV's agriculture portfolio grew 246.66%, reaching more than 2.14 lakh farmers and beneficiaries. Startups in education, accessibility and healthcare reported 60% revenue growth while impacting 17.15 lakh people. NBV founder and CEO Vipul Nath Jindal said the firm aimed to scale its impact through the second fund, which will focus on businesses addressing last-mile gaps in healthcare and using AI for social good.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The second fund's Rs 2,000 crore corpus is significant because impact investing in India's informal economy remains a high-risk, low-liquidity bet that few large corporate VCs take. NBV's portfolio shows a pattern familiar in Indian agri-tech: a handful of pilot-stage startups post rapid income gains for farmers, but the numbers remain tiny relative to India's 260 million farmers. The real test for the second fund will be whether NBV can replicate income growth rates of 75-93% at scale without diluting impact, and whether corporate limited partners from Japan, Hakuhodo, Shizuoka Bank, will renew their commitment if exits remain slow. The fund has not disclosed a target internal rate of return or a typical exit timeline, both of which matter for institutional investors.
Source: thehindu.com
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
