India-based IT consultancy Wipro has set aside $100m for a corporate venturing fund that will invest in early-to-middle stage startups, Business Standard reported today.
Wipro’s investments will have a global focus and will seek out companies operating in niche technologies including data, open source and industrial internet.
Sources told Business Standard that the investments are being driven by Wipro’s chief strategy officer, Rishad Premji. Premji recently visited a software product warehouse owned by India’s National Association of Software and Services Companies to review some of the startups being incubated there.
Wipro invested in data analytics provider Opera Solutions and cloud software provider Axeda in 2013, exiting the latter company last week when it was acquired by PTC for $170m.