Genpact founder and former CEO Pramod Bhasin and Vikram Gandhi former Vice-Chairman of Credit Suisse have invested in Bengaluru-based Unitus Seed Fund, through their joint social enterprise focused fund ‘Virtual Fund.’
The quantum of the investment was not disclosed.
Mr. Bhasin, poineer of the Indian BPO industry, stepped down from Genpact in 2011 and has been focusing on social ventures. He has collaborated with Pia Singh, daughter of DLF Chairman K.P. Singh for a venture called Skills Academy, an organisation focused on skills development in the rural and semi urban areas.
“Our country faces many socio-economic challenges and it is imperative that the markets and socially inclined entrepreneurs play a much larger role in addressing them,” Mr. Bhasin said in a statement.
“Through our investment in Unitus Seed Fund, we look forward to using our experience and expertise to empower ground-level enterprises built around business models that are scalable and can positively impact lives of the low-income masses,” he said.
Mr. Gandhi, is setting up Asha Impact, an impact investment and policy advocacy organisation and also runs VSG Capital Advisors.
The statement also said that Virtual Fund has lined up more such investments in the pipeline.
USF has raised over $20 million in both its offshore and India fund
It has made 16 investments in India, including Milaap (online micro-lending platform), m-Gaadi (‘Uber’ for auto-risckshaws) and Hippocampus (a rural education services company).
Unitus has earlier raised funds from V. Balakrishnan (former CFO of Infosys), Harsh Mariwala (Marico), T.V. Mohandas Pai and Ranjan Pai among others.
International investors include Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, Bill Gates and Vinod Khosla.
