Wipro Ventures, India-based IT services firm Wipro’s corporate venture capital unit, launched its $150m second fund yesterday, a 50% increase from its first vehicle.
The unit formed its $100m first fund in 2014, making its first investment early the following year. It targets early-to-mid stage companies developing technologies in areas such as cybersecurity, data, cloud infrastructure and app development.
Wipro Ventures has built a 16-strong portfolio including cybersecurity software providers Vectra AI and IntSights in addition to supply chain technology producer Tradeshift, which raised $240m in debt and equity financing earlier this week.
The launch of the unit’s Fund II follows exits from cybersecurity orchestration software provider Demisto, which was acquired by Palo Alto Networks for $560m in February 2019, and data management platform developer Imanis Data which was bought by Cohesity three months later.
Managing partners Venu Pemmaraju and Biplab Adhya said in a statement: “Our approach has enabled Wipro to differentiate our services, while enabling our portfolio to deploy solutions globally, generating significant revenues for our startups and financial returns for Wipro. Wipro Ventures’ Fund II demonstrates our continued and increased commitment to this strategy.”
