IT honchos raise Rs.100 crore for tech fund

Exfinity Technology Fund, promoted by IT honchos who were formerly with Infosys, Wipro and I-flex, Wednesday announced raising Rs.100 crore in the first round itself.

"The fund is fully subscribed in the first round and investors include CXOs (executives), reputed industrialists, family offices, professionals, UHNIs (ultra high net worth individuals) and institutional investors," the city-based company said in a statement.

The promoters behind the fund are former Infosys board members T.V. Mohandas Pai and V. Balakrishnan, former Wipro chief executive Girish Paranjpe and former I-flex Solutions chief executive Deepak Ghaisas.

"We are excited about the speedy and successful subscription to the fund and appreciate the support of our investors," Exfinity fund manager and Reservoir Investment Managers (RIM) chairman Balakrishnan said in the statement.

The fund hopes the green shoe option of Rs.25 crore, which is open for subscription, will be subscribed soon, possibly by institutional investors.

"The pedigree of founders coupled with holistic ecosystem of mentors, industry connects, subject matter experts and financing provides a right platform for young entrepreneurs to realise their dreams," Balakrishnan said.

The fund has already signed three deals with professional promoters in niche areas and is conducting their due diligence for strategic investments in them.

"As technology is transforming business models globally, investors want to be a part of this journey and diversify their asset allocation, which has been traditionally into equity, debt, real estate and commodities," RIM chief executive Shailesh Ghorpade said in the statement.

Noting that start-up space was witnessing heightened activity, Balakrishnan said technology space was exciting to invest as entry barriers were coming down.

"We are focused on driven teams who have scalable ideas that can succeed with our high impact interventions," he said.

Registered with the regulator (SEBI) as a category 1 alternate investment fund, Exfinity is focused on technology ventures in disruptive ideas.

"Entrepreneurs, who trust our team, are enthused to work with us as they see added value apart from capital contribution," Balakrishnan added.

The city-based RIM, set up in October 2013 as a LLP (limited liability partnership) will back ventures in IT space, especially on those focused on products and solutions in high-growth technologies.

"Practitioners, who scaled organisations and have global perspective on technology and markets, can bring their expertise to add value to the investee companies," Ghorpade observed.

Balakrishnan contested in the recent Lok Sabha elections on Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ticket from the Bangalore Central constituency but lost to BJP's sitting lawmaker P.C. Mohan.