Vishal Sikka led Infosys which earlier had planned a $100 million (Rs 600 crore) for start-ups and then boosted it to $500-million (about Rs 3,000 crore), now plans to allocate a quarter of the fund to invest in startups in Silicon Valley, Israel and India along with venture capital firms.
There is no specific startup or venture capital fund which the company is targeting, but they are simply looking for some ideas which are disruptive and unique. India’s second-largest software services exporter has had discussions with about two dozen VC firms for such investments.
No formal agreements with any particular VCs have been planned. The strategy is to back startups and entrepreneurs with ideas that align with the company.
Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka wants to broaden the company’s offerings and explore into newer areas of technology to differentiate it from its tech rivals amid a rapidly evolving tech space.
Last month, the tech giant had invested close to $15 million (Rs 94 crore approximately) in a DreamWorks Animation (DWA) spin-off. Earlier, there were talks that Infosys may enter the animation market with a partnership with an established player. In an earlier statement Infosys had said that the two companies intend to work together to further develop DreamWorks’ technologies to bring them to wider use.