Infosys invests Rs 31.6 crore in early stage VC firm Stellaris

Money is put in through its $500 Innovation fund that focuses on startups working in emerging technologies

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Infosys has put in Rs 31.6 crore in Stellaris Venture Partners, an early-stage venture firm founded by former Helion Advisors partners, the second such move in a venture capital firm through its $500-million innovation fund.

Last year, it had invested in Silicon Valley-based Vertex Ventures that looks at picking up stake and mentoring early-stage technology firms. Stellaris, founded by Alok Goyal, Ritesh Banglani and Rahul Chowdhri, aims to back entrepreneurs building applications for global businesses, Indian small enterprises, and consumer-focused firms in verticals such as financial services, retail, healthcare and education. 

The Infosys innovation fund, which has a total corpus of $500 million, focuses on start-ups that work in emerging technologies. Chief executive Vishal Sikka recently said the company would continuously focus on building new capabilities as the industry as a whole witnessed a major shift from traditional technologies to emerging technologies such as cloud. Last week, Infosys invested Rs 14.5 crore in Denmark-based artificial intelligence start-up UNSILO through the same fund.

 Infosys said it would have better access to new entrepreneurs through its investment in Stellaris and the firm is better positioned to tap the rapid growth in India’s start-up ecosystem. The Stellaris team has significant experience working in global technology companies and a strong track record in venture capital, with investments made in firms such as TaxiForSure, BigBasket and others. 

“We believe Stellaris with its extensive operational and domain expertise in enterprise software and services in both India and the US is uniquely positioned to leverage India’s capital efficient talent pool,” said Ritika Suri, global head of corporate development and ventures at Infosys. 

The investment is expected to be completed by December 15. Alok Goyal, co-founder at Stellaris, said technology expertise and worldwide footprint of Infosys would be crucial for Stellaris’ portfolio companies.