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“We are trying to create a platform of innovators, start-ups, academia, incubators and private equity players,” said Manish Mehta, global head of consulting and enterprise at TechM. He said that there a lot of companies which have innovation as well as domain specific solutions across retail, construction and mobility.
TechM is ready to fund some of these ideas as well, in addition to arranging for funding. They had formed a $50 million fund, a joint venture with Japan's SoftBank and Mahindra Satyam, in 2012. The fund which will look to fund external innovators, and is currently awaiting an approval from the banking regulator, Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The company, however, declined to give details of any target that they have set for funding. “It is not just funding. Some innovators might just want someone who can take their ideas to the market. We, with our market presence internationally, can help them do that. Start-ups need a lot of help and we can help in consulting too,” claims Mehta.
This exercise, the company believes, will help them supplant innovation that is done internally. “Our clients can get new and ideas and solutions of the future. The pace of innovation will increase if we fund ideas from outside and join forces with them. Many good ideas as as well disruptive innovation can come from start-ups said,” said Mehta.
The company says that it kicked off the process today, is currently holding discussions with companies. Their programme, has already generated a lot of interest, it claims, as it has received interest across the country. Tech Mahindra is open to funding international start-ups as well.
