India-based IT services provider Infosys plans to launch a $250m corporate venturing fund that will invest in local startups.
The Innovate in India Fund was announced by CEO Vishal Sikka on Wednesday following a meeting with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. It will target technologies including artificial intelligence, automation, connected cloud and mobile technology, and collaboration and design products.
Infosys will source the cash from its Innovation Fund, which it has accordingly expanded to $500m.
The Innovation Fund was launched in 2013 with $100m of capital, but the company only began investing from it in late 2014, providing funding for two US-based companies, business collaboration technology company Clique Intelligence and video analytics developer Ooyala.
Sikka said: “Startups represent the vision, the hope and the persevering entrepreneurial spirit taking root in India.
“With the ‘Innovate in India Fund’, Infosys will invest in great Indian startups, help amplify their engineering and operations, as well as help bring their innovations to market at scale. Next-generation solutions built on emerging computing technologies, in innovative new ways, can dramatically reshape and improve the world around us.”