India second largest IT exporter Infosys said it has invested around $1.4 million in Bengaluru-based ANSR Consulting, a leading Global in-house center (GIC) strategy consulting and implementation firm from its recently formed ‘Innovate in India Fund’.
This would be the first investment by the company in any Indian start-up after creating a $250 million (Rs. 1,550 crore) Innovate in India Fund, focused on Indian start-ups. With the strategic investment Infosys has also acquired a minority stake of around 5 per cent in ANSR Consulting. The company which has created India focused fund in January has also formed a separate team under the leadership of Ritika Suri, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Corporate Development to focus on Indian start-ups.
Earlier this year, Infosys announced the creation of a $500 million Innovation Fund earmarked for investments in disruptive new business models and technologies. Infosys has also set aside $10 million from the global Innovation Fund for Ireland-based start-ups.
“The new investment from the fund widens Infosys’ reach in the fast-growing GIC market,” the company said.
Commenting on the investment, Ritika Suri, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Corporate Development at Infosys said, “We are very excited to partner and invest in ANSR Consulting. This investment reflects our commitment to new, innovative business models. In particular, models that are significant to the growth that India is experiencing in delivering unprecedented value to clients across the world, by matching the demand for next-generation scalable solutions, with India’s supply of technology and business expertise.”
The investment is strategic as global companies are setting up GICs to tap new technologies such as social, mobile, analytics and cloud. Recently, India has emerged as a destination for GICs due to wide access to technical and business talent at a reasonable cost, and the growing ecosystem of successful GICs.
Lalit Ahuja, Founder and CEO, ANSR Consulting said, “We are excited about this investment from the Infosys Innovation Fund. This investment, combined with Infosys’ breadth of next-generation technology services, will enable us to bring more GICs into India and help global companies advance their transformation and innovation agenda, and deliver ground-breaking solutions.”
The investment is expected to close before August 31, 2015, subject to customary closing conditions.
