Infosys drops plan to have dedicated person for managing Innovation Fund

Ritika Suri, head of M&A, to be responsible for the $500 million fund

Infosys, India’s second-largest information technology (IT) services company, has said Ritika Suri will be responsible for managing the $500-million Innovation Fund. She presently heads its mergers and acquisitions (M&A) initiatives.

An official said, "Later, we may look at having a person under her to manage the fund."

In January, the Bengaluru-based company had decided to hand the charge of M&A to Suri, after giving the former M&A head, Deepak Padaki, the charge of strategy. At that point, it had said, it was looking at having a separate leader to manage the fund.

Suri had joined Infosys previous year from SAP, a German enterprise software maker. Of the $500 million that Infosys has set aside for the Innovation Fund, half is for Indian start-ups.

The company has already made two investments out of the fund, including $15 million in a spin-off company of animation studio, DreamWorks Animation. Recently, the company said it had made investment in another company, which makes cloud-enabled devices for detecting air quality. However, it is yet to disclose the quantum of the investment and the name of the company.

Infosys has identified certain areas like artificial intelligence, automation, Internet of Things (IoT), big data and analytics as its focus areas for engagements in the start-up world. "The great IT needs of the world are increasingly being served by thousands of smaller companies. Yet, bigger businesses not quite trust the small companies. We see ourselves playing an important role - first of all by investing in those start-ups and participating in their financial success and also in helping bridge the gap between the start-ups and the large businesses, give the businesses comfort, the resilience and maturity," Sikka had said, addressing a recent conference organised by Morgan Stanley, earlier this month.

With Suri as the head of M&A, Infosys has already shown its intent to play an aggressive inorganic growth strategy. Last month, the company had acquired an Israeli-origin automation technology company Panaya for $200 million (about Rs 1,244 crore).