Russia-headquartered conglomerate Sistema has invested $50m in a fund that will invest in India-based startups, chief finance officer Vsevolod Rozanov has told the Economic Times.
Sistema Asia Fund will be advised by Sistema’s Indian subsidiary, Insitel Services, with Insitel managing partner Andrey Terebenin overseeing the advisory function. It will fund consumer-focused tech startups in fields such as furniture leasing, food delivery and online payment.
Rozanov said: “Sistema JSFC has an abundance of investible resources, and we realised funding startups could be a great way to leverage our knowledge about how business works in India by virtue of our presence in the telecom business, and also at a time when the Modi-led government is committed to galvanising the startups ecosystem.”