Infosys launches $250 mn Innovate in India Fund to back Indian startups

Post announcing its plans to expand its global innovation fund corpus to $500 million from the original $100 million to accelerate the creation of its worldwide ecosystem of innovation, IT bellwether Infosys has announced its plans to create $250 million (Rs 1,550 crore) 'Innovate in India Fund’ to back startups and new ideas for the next generation technology.

The Innovate in India Fund, announced by CEO & MD Vishal Sikka in a meeting with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, will be dedicated for investments in promising new Indian companies that will be inducted into the global ecosystem of strategic partners that Infosys is building.

Speaking on the creation of the Fund, Sikka said, “Start-ups 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 start-ups, help amplify their engineering and operations, as well as help bring their innovations to market at scale."

With $8.25 billion in annual revenues and over 165,000 employees, Infosys aims to help build the next-generation solutions on emerging computing technologies in innovative new ways. "Next-generation technology can dramatically reshape and improve the world around us. That’s why, we look forward to working with innovative companies to strengthen our collective potential and also accelerate the success of the Prime Minister’s ‘Digital India’ mission aimed at helping people gain benefits from the latest in information technology,” Sikka added further.

The Fund will be used to invest in young companies innovating in next-generation solutions and technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), automation, pervasive connectedness as well as collaboration and design technologies.

Recently, the firm reported 12.7 per cent earnings growth in the quarter ended December 31, 2014, beating street estimates. Its net profit rose 12.7 per cent to $522 million over the year ago period rising 2.2 per cent sequentially compared to Q2 ended September 30, 2014. The firm also made 100 per cent variable payout for Q3 to its employees.