Recognize, a technology investment firm founded by veterans including former Cognizant CEO Francisco D’Souza, has closed its second Fund (Recognize II) with over $1.7 billion in total commitments.

The firm notes that Recognize II was oversubscribed and closed less than five months from launch with strong support from existing investors including a significant commitment from GPs themselves and a curated group of new investors. The LP base of Recognize II includes institutions such as endowments, foundations, pensions, insurers, family offices, outsourced CIOs and fund-of-funds across the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Latin America.

Co-founded by Managing Partners Francisco D’Souza, Charles Phillips, and David Wasserman, Recognize looks to back founders and management teams who are building differentiated businesses that leverage AI, software, and digital platforms to deliver transformative outcomes to enterprises.

Recognize Fund I closed at $1.3 billion and was raised during the pandemic, and like its previous fund, Recognize II will focus on investing in companies with enterprise values between approximately $50 million and $500 million. The investment firm has an active portfolio comprises 12 companies. 

Labour-intensive play

“The IT services in the past was a labour-intensive play, and today we see GenAI as a convergence of propreitary IP and software-enabled services and that continues to be our thesis, Muthu Kumaran, Operating Partner and Head of India Operations at Recognize, told businessline. “We have a global focus when it comes to our investments but we are seeing interest from exciting founders and entrepreneurs from India,” he added. Over 4,500 Indian talent work across Recognize’s portfolio companies, he said. 

Muthu Kumaran, Operating Partner and Head of India Operations at Recognize

Muthu Kumaran, Operating Partner and Head of India Operations at Recognize

Over the last six months, Recognize has made four new platform investments- SDG Corporation (cybersecurity services), Sprout (Digital Infrastructure Services), TRANZACT (insurance services), and HealthEdge (SaaS for healthcare payers). The firm also completed two realization events earlier this year- the exit of AST, sold to IBM, and a partial exit of 2X through a strategic investment by Insight Partners. In 2024, Recognize also sold Torc, an AI-powered talent platform, to a subsidiary of Randstad.

Published on June 30, 2025