Catamaran Ventures to expand investments, bets on manufacturing
The VC firm set up by Infosys is shifting focus from services to strategic partnerships in deep tech, precision engineering and manufacturing, and renewables.
LLP, a venture capital firm set up by Infosys, plans to expand its investment to $2 billion in the next five years from the current $1 billion.
The firm is shifting its focus from services to strategic partnerships in deep tech, precision engineering and manufacturing, and renewables, Bloomberg has reported.
Chairman MD Ranganath said manufacturing is a crucial trajectory for India's growth. He highlighted the advantage of testing innovation in India for scalability before entering global markets.
To support this growth, Catamaran aims to hire professionals and actively seek partners to develop businesses in the selected sub-sectors. The firm is in discussions to close at least one such partnership in the coming months, said the report.
Bengaluru-based Catamaran Ventures employs around 15 staff, who oversee various holdings, including e-sports, insurance, and investments in Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp.
In the past, the firm had partnered with to establish Prione Business Services, which initially helped merchants transition online and eventually became a dominant vendor itself. Amazon later acquired Catamaran Ventures' stake in the venture.
Ranganath emphasised that Catamaran Ventures will continue to support early-and late-stage companies. Nearly one-third of the company's investment is in early-stage companies and the remaining is evenly split between late-stage and growth enterprises.
The firm's track record includes investment in companies such as the social network Reddit and India's largest stock exchange, the National Stock Exchange.
Edited by Affirunisa Kankudti