India-based conglomerate Reliance Industries intends to set up a Rs 50bn ($750m) corporate venturing fund to invest in digital technology developers, chairman Mukesh Ambani said yesterday.
Jio Digital India Startup Fund was announced at the firm’s general meeting in Mumbai, as part of an expansive range of plans surrounding its Reliance Jio 4G network, which is due to launch in the next few days.
Ambani said: “We also have plans to partner with thousands of Indian entrepreneurs, whose digital ventures can bloom in the ground that Jio is preparing. For this purpose, we have created a Jio Digital India Startup Fund.”
Reliance plans to invest the money in the next five years and intends to establish entrepreneurship hubs in some Indian cities.
The idea is that lower rates – Reliance says Jio will provide free voice calls, some of the lowest data tariffs in the world and will cover 90% of India’s population by March 2017 – will stimulate a new wave of digital startups that can serve more customers than before.
Reliance already makes investments through two subsidiaries. Mass media subsidiary Network18 has funded startups including online ticketing platform BookMyShow, and the group’s GenNext Ventures unit teamed with Microsoft in 2014 to form an incubator.
However, Reliance is relatively inexperienced with IT and digital investments, and it will be interesting to see whether the firm hires an experienced hand to run the fund or if they promote from within.