Updated:
JITO Incubation & Innovation Foundation
Rajat Mehta chairs JIIF, the venture arm of India's Jain International Trade Organisation, which has seeded early-stage startups since 2017.
JITO Incubation & Innovation Foundation
Rajat Mehta, Rajesh Jain, and Bharat Oswal co-founded JITO Incubation & Innovation Foundation in 2017 as the venture-building arm of the Jain International Trade Organisation. JITO is a global community organization representing Jain businessmen and professionals, and JIIF channels that network's capital and strategic mentorship into Indian startups. The foundation operates from a dedicated floor at JITO House in Mumbai's Andheri East commercial district and functions as a not-for-profit incubator, offering seed funding, go-to-market support, and access to JITO's 15,000-plus members and their operating businesses. JIIF typically writes early-stage checks and focuses on startups with strong India-market relevance. Known portfolio sectors include fintech, enterprise software, health-tech, agritech, and education technology. The foundation has run multiple cohorts of its incubation program, selecting startups through national pitching events. Confirmed portfolio companies include Plusgold Digital Gold, a platform enabling micro-savings in gold, and JIIF has publicly backed other ventures in digital payments and agri-supply chain. The investment thesis combines patient capital with hands-on mentoring, leveraging JITO's network of experienced entrepreneurs who act as advisors and potential enterprise customers for portfolio companies. JIIF is governed by a board drawn from JITO's apex leadership, including Chairman Sukhraj B Nahar and President Kantilal Oswal. The foundation maintains strategic partnerships with JITO USA to facilitate cross-border startup exposure and has affiliations with TiE Mumbai and the World Business Angels Investment Forum through its board members. Alongside its investment activities, JIIF operates adjacent philanthropic vehicles including the JITO Administrative Training Foundation and JITO Sarvoday Foundation, which handle community development, education, and healthcare initiatives separately from the incubation mandate. JIIF's architecture is unusual among Indian incubators: it combines the broad reach of a community-based angel network with the formal governance of a not-for-profit foundation. This structure gives portfolio companies access to patient capital sourced from within the Jain business community rather than from third-party LPs. The governance separation between JIIF's investment activities and JITO Apex's broader trade-organization functions creates a focused vehicle for startup investing while maintaining the brand and network benefits of one of India's most established business communities.
General information
Firm type
Generalist
Year founded
2017
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
Asia
Country
India
City
Mumbai
Corporate office
5th floor, Plot no. A-56 Road No 1 MIDC Marol, Andheri East, Mumbai, 400093, India
Principals
Rajat Mehta
Chairman
Rajesh Jain
Director Incharge
Bharat Oswal
Vice Chairman
Sukhraj B Nahar
Chairman of JITO Apex
Kantilal Oswal
President of JITO Apex
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at JIIF?
JIIF is chaired by Rajat Mehta, with Rajesh Jain serving as Director Incharge and Bharat Oswal as Vice Chairman. The investment committee draws on senior leaders from JITO Apex, including Chairman Sukhraj B Nahar and President Kantilal Oswal, who collectively review startup applications and cohort selections. Final investment approvals sit with the board, which convenes regularly to evaluate pipeline companies sourced through JIIF's national pitching events.
How does JIIF source its deal flow?
JIIF sources startups primarily through open-call pitching events conducted across Indian cities, leveraging the JITO network's chapter infrastructure for regional outreach. It also accepts direct applications through its website and receives referrals from JITO's membership of over 15,000 business owners. International deal flow is supplemented through JITO USA, which organizes startup showcases for the diaspora and connects founders to the Mumbai investment committee.
Is JIIF a single family office or an institutional venture fund?
JIIF operates as a not-for-profit incubator and angel network backed by the Jain International Trade Organisation, not a single-family office or a pooled venture fund. It deploys capital contributed by JITO's member base rather than from external limited partners, and its mandate includes both financial investment and ecosystem development for early-stage Indian startups. The foundation structures its investments as patient, mentor-driven seed rounds without a fixed fund lifecycle.
What is JIIF's relationship with JITO Apex?
JIIF is a wholly-owned venture-building subsidiary of JITO Apex, the governing body of the Jain International Trade Organisation. JITO Apex's Chairman Sukhraj B Nahar and President Kantilal Oswal sit on JIIF's leadership, and the foundation operates from JITO House in Mumbai. While JITO's philanthropic activities — such as JITO Administrative Training Foundation and JITO Sarvoday Foundation — run separately, JIIF's incubation mandate benefits from shared branding and the parent organization's extensive business network.
Which sectors does JIIF target, and which does it avoid?
JIIF has confirmed investments in fintech (digital gold savings), enterprise software, digital health, agri-tech, and education technology. The foundation targets sectors where India's domestic market offers large-scale adoption opportunities and where JITO's network of industrialists can provide operational mentorship. JIIF generally avoids capital-intensive sectors such as hard infrastructure and biotech, where its seed-stage check sizes and mentorship model are less suited to the long development cycles required.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
Need institutional-grade insight on asset managers?
Altss delivers:
Prefer a guided tour?
We’ll walk you through: