Attention startups: Infosys is gets serious about finding new partners for innovation

As it attempts to become a next-generation services company in keeping with CEO Vishal Sikka’s vision, Infosys will be looking at partnering, buying and in some cases even acquiringa stake in start ups.

In an interview to the Economic Times, Infosys COO UB Pravin Rao said that they would be using its recently created products, platforms and solutions unit EdgeVerve to look for interesting technology developed by startups that it would then take to clients.

Rao said that the Infosys will help startups scale up, bundle technologies developed by the smaller units with its own and in the “rarest of rare cases” buy equity in the companies they are interested in.

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Infosys had in 2013 created a $100 million fund to invest in other companies but didn’t make any investments, however, earlier this year it had screened some start-ups for a potential partnership.

The company’s CEO, Sikka had earlier said they would be working more with startups in order to amplify their reach.

“We will work with the startup community - amplifying their reach and accelerating their road maps - to achieve this,” Sikka said.

One of the means he had planned to do that was by using the $100 million at his disposal.

“We have a $100 million fund that our shareholders and board had approved. I want to utilise it starting today. We want to work to be a great amplifier for start ups here in India and also in other parts of the world, in the (Silicon) Valley, US and to focus on improving not only learnability and learning, but also our abilities,” he had said.