Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region

Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER)

Established in September 2001, MDoNER is the nodal Central Government ministry responsible for the accelerated socio-economic development of the eight states of Northeast India: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, and Sikkim.

Startup and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem

MDoNER's flagship startup initiative is the North East Venture Fund (NEVF), jointly set up with the North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd. (NEDFi), managed by NEDFi Venture Capital Limited (NVCL). Launched on 9 September 2017.

Investment range: ₹25 lakh to ₹10 crore per venture, with a long-term investment horizon of 4–5 years. The fund deploys equity, debt, and convertible instruments. NEVF has disbursed equity support and grants totalling ₹420 crore to more than 4,500 startups.

MDoNER also supports state-level venture funds. The Manipur Start-Up Venture Fund (₹30 crore corpus) exemplifies the model of state-specific funds catalysed by the ministry. Under the Startup India initiative, 408 startups have been formally recognised in the NER.

Who Should Apply

Founders and entrepreneurs who are domiciled in or building ventures based in any of the eight NE states — particularly in agri-tech, food processing, tourism, IT, healthcare, and traditional industry verticals — will find MDoNER and its channel partners (NEDFi, NEHHDC, KVIC, TRIFED) to be the most relevant government touch points. Especially suited to early-stage and growth-stage companies seeking patient capital and policy support in a region where conventional VC networks remain thin.