Comments
Robert Bosch Venture Capital (RBVC), the funding arm of technology giant Bosch, plans to invest in Indian start-ups, in an effort to speed up its technology push.
“We will foray into the Indian market in a year or so,” said Manohar Esarapu, Head, Bosch Start-up Alliance, on the sidelines of the graduation of its start-up accelerator programme.
RBVC makes seed, early- and late-stage investments and participates in follow-on investments in privately held companies.
in Asia, RBVC operates out of Singapore and globally it is present in Germany, the US and Israel.
Area of InvestmentThe venture capital arm makes early-stage investments in areas such as healthcare, energy efficiency, IoT, blockchain and electrification.
Bosch did not disclose the fund size for Indian start-ups, but said that it will be similar to its global venture business.
Depending on the stage of the company, RBVC pumps in anywhere from €500,000 (seed funding) to €15 million (late-stage investment).
The venture capital arm of Bosch will primarily invest in companies that have participated in its accelerator programme.
Accelerator programmeIn 2016, the company had launched the accelerator programme for start-ups called DNA — Discover, Nurture and Align.
At present, Bosch India has not invested in any start-up but is acting as a funnel for its venture capital arm.
“Eventually, start-ups which are a part of our venture can potentially get funding,” said Esarapu.
While Bosch has not taken any equity stake in any of the 13 start-ups that graduated its accelerator programme, the company has helped them with industry connect, mentorship and manufacturing tools such as 3D printer, to help build their business.
Of the 13 start-ups, four were chosen to jointly go-to-market with Bosch. These include AutoVRse, which provides VR technology; AerX Labs, which makes flight simulators; Insuide, which provides indoor navigation software, and Qualitas, which is into the quality control segment.
Further, for the whole start-up programme, Bosch said that it invested ₹7.5 crore and will be making a similar investment for its next batch, which is expected to begin later this year.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.