Start-ups to get a boost with Cisco’s $40-mn fund allocation

Cisco Investments, the venture capital arm of Cisco, has allocated USD $40 mn to fund early-stage firms in India under the ‘India Innovation theme’.

As part of the India Innovation theme, Cisco also announced its first investment in Covacsis--a Mumbai-based real-time analytics platform software provider catering to manufacturing production floors.

The venture investment in India is Cisco’s initiative to drive the IT market growth through investment in the innovation economies. Over the years, Cisco has made strategic investments in growth stage companies such as Netmagic, Apalya and social innovation funds like Aavishkaar.

Cisco Investments’ existing portfolio is over $2 bn worldwide and the $40 mn early stage allocation under the India Innovation theme is a part of the $250 mn that was announced earlier in the year focused on next generation technologies globally, including big data and analytics; the Internet of Things (IoT); connected mobility; storage; silicon; and content technology ecosystem.

Cisco invested in MobStac, a Bangalore-based start-up company, as part of its global connected mobility theme.

Besides contributing capital to early-stage companies, Cisco Investments helps accelerate the development of these companies by connecting them to expertise and resources such as Cisco IT, Cisco’s business leaders and Cisco’s network of partners and customers through major industry events, such as the annual Cisco Live.

India is committed to rapidly building out its communications infrastructure, which presents a unique opportunity for local entrepreneurs to develop new technologies and applications. As a leading strategic investor, Cisco Investments is committed to support the building of entrepreneurial capacity and nurture the local early stage startup eco-system in India.

By spurring and accelerating technology innovation, we want to help India evolve as a global hub for innovation and help Cisco become a defining player in taking technology investment in the region to the next level.”