Former UST Global CEO Sajan Pillai to launch $75M venture fund for startups

The former CEO of California-headquartered UST Global, Sajan Pillai, will kick-start a mega venture fund for startups in September with an intial corpus of $50 million to $75 million. Pillai, who retired from the company earlier this year, will also be investing in global projects for assisted living for seniors and homecare.

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Kerala-born and US-based Pillai, whose long stint with UST Global positioned the American multinational company as a leading provider of IT services and solutions, said the venture fund would be launched on September 8 to promote startups, with a slant on Kerala.

"The fund's focus will be product companies, primarily B2B. We will focus on four sectors: healthcare, fintech, telecom & technology, and retail," he said, unveiling his plans at a press meet.

"An advisory board has been set up to help startups in these sectors. We have already spoken to the largest banks in the world. The idea is to assemble senior-level executives of Kerala; they will be on the board of the startups. We are going to create a relationship with the government to give an impetus to the drive," he said.

Focusing on elderly care

Kerala has the potential to emerge as a global startup powerhouse, Pillai added.

Pillai, who is also Chairman of SP Lifecare, announced that the company would launch a string of projects to deliver world-class elderly care by combining care, technology, and real estate. These would include developing Senior Assisted Living facilities, creating a pool of well-trained caregivers to provide home services, doorstep delivery of health and personal care, and setting up a super store for delivery of essential items to senior citizens.

SP Lifecare, which recently acquired Kerala-based Asha Care Homes, has already purchased land in Thannimoodu near the state capital and Aluva in Ernakulam for developing Senior Assisted Living campuses. Plans are on to acquire land in Bengaluru by this month, he said.

Pillai had been featured in this year's list of Employees' Choice Award for top 100 global CEOs, instituted by US-based Glassdoor, one of worlds largest job and recruiting sites.

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