JIIF Invests Over Rs 150 Crore Across 100 Startups, Eyes APAC Expansion and New Opportunities

JITO Incubation and Innovation Foundation Boosts Investments in Indian Startups

In a significant move, the early-stage investor JITO Incubation and Innovation Foundation (JIIF) has channelled more than Rs 150 crore into over 100 startups at the pre-seed and seed stages in the last two years, while logging upwards of 15 exits during the same period. The foundation has now announced plans to invest another Rs 80–100 crore over the next 12–18 months, as it sharpens its focus on scaling its portfolio.

JIIF has also made a significant move towards a fund-of-funds model, investing Rs 26.5 crore into Mumbai-based Atomic Capital. This step is expected to widen its access to diverse opportunities beyond direct startup backing. As part of its diversification strategy, the foundation is planning an accelerator programme targeting the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, spanning India, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.

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The organisation's current portfolio reflects a diversified sectoral spread, including AI and deeptech (15%), consumer and D2C (25%), health (15%), fintech (15–20%), and mobility and sustainability (20%). Segments like consumer, fintech, and mobility have delivered relatively faster exits, largely through buybacks and secondary deals.

Among the startups backed by JIIF are Aten Porus, Elixia, Zintlr, DTown Robotics, Nautical Wings, BatX, S3V, Stroom, Snackible, and Elefant, cutting across industries such as SaaS, defence technology, sustainability, health tech, mobility, and D2C. The foundation plans to support around 20–25 startups annually, with individual investments typically ranging between Rs 1.5 crore and Rs 2 crore, depending on the company’s stage and sector.

JIIF Chairman Jeenendra Bhandari commented on the strategy, stating that the foundation has focused on building a founder-first investment platform that goes beyond capital. The partnerships with platforms such as Startup Singham and Lead to Unicorn have helped JIIF access high-quality opportunities. The investment in Atomic Capital marks a significant step in expanding its investment capabilities and accessing differentiated opportunities. Alongside, the planned APAC accelerator programme will support founders at scale across geographies.

The foundation noted that exits so far have largely come via secondary transactions and buybacks, with returns tracking its targeted internal rate of return of 20–30%+ across the investment lifecycle.

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