The National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development (NABARD) on 13thMay 2019 announced a Rs 700-crore venture capital funding for equity investments in agriculture as well as rural-focused startups. Till now, NABARD has been contributing to other funds but this is the very first time that the rural development bank has initiated a fund of its own. According to an official statement, the fund has been launched by Nabventures, which is a subsidiary of NABARD.