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Cisco Investments, the venture capital arm of Cisco, has announced an allocation of $40 million to fund early-stage firms in India under the ‘India Innovation theme’.
As a part of this theme, Cisco also announced its first investment – Covacsis, a Mumbai-based software company that provides Internet of Things (IoT)-based solutions to automate the manufacturing sector.
The India Innovation theme is a part of the $250 million that was announced earlier in the year, focusing on next generation technologies globally such as big data, analytics, IoT, connected mobility, storage, silicon and content technology ecosystem.
As a part of its global connected mobility theme, Cisco invested in MobStac, a Bangalore-based start-up that makes location-based mobile apps to connect with customers in real time in stores, stadiums, malls, campuses, etc.
“We are looking to invest in companies that make products for India which can also be taken to the rest of the world. Additionally, we are looking for start-ups that offer industry-specific solutions in education, healthcare, financial services, etc., and cloud-enabled enterprise apps/platforms,” said Joydeep Bose, Managing Director, Corporate Development, Cisco Asia Pacific & Japan.
He also said, “Besides direct investments, we are looking at indirect investments in Accelerators and Incubators. This will help to evolve India as a global hub for innovation and help Cisco become a defining player in taking technology investment in the area to the next level.”
Cisco Investments has invested in 15 companies in India over the last 10 years, and intends on identifying start-ups to invest in within 12-18 months. The company usually acquires a stake of up to 20 per cent in the start-ups it invests in and typically invests $500,000 to $12 million on each start-up.
Besides contributing capital to early-stage companies, Cisco Investments helps accelerate the development of these companies by connecting them to expertise and resources such as Cisco IT, Cisco’s business leaders, VCs, and Cisco’s network of partners and customers through major industry events such as Cisco Live.
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