{"id":20875,"date":"2017-07-04T17:04:24","date_gmt":"2017-07-04T11:34:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apnlive.com\/?p=20875"},"modified":"2017-07-04T17:12:07","modified_gmt":"2017-07-04T11:42:07","slug":"nandan-nilekani-sanjeev-aggarwal-launch-100-million-fundamentum-back-mid-stage-start-ups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apnlive.com\/business-news\/nandan-nilekani-sanjeev-aggarwal-launch-100-million-fundamentum-back-mid-stage-start-ups\/","title":{"rendered":"Nandan Nilekani, Sanjeev Aggarwal launch $100 million ‘Fundamentum’ to back mid-stage start-ups"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Infosys Ltd co-founder Nandan Nilekani<\/a> and venture capital investor Sanjeev Aggarwal have launched a $100 million venture fund called The Fundamentum Partnership to back mid-stage software start-ups that can solve problems in the consumer technology space.<\/p>\n

Nilekani said the corpus could be could be increased to $200 million if the fund sees more opportunities.<\/p>\n

The new venture capital fund has already raised about $ 50 million with one-third of its share coming from Nilekani and Aggarwal. The fund will also see participation from leading entrepreneurs and financial institutions from the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been doing investments for the last few years, and I have understood the ecosystem. The one thing I realised is that the real challenge is in scaling up,\u201d said Nilekani.<\/p>\n

\u201cFundamentum will offer more than just capital and provide a 360-degree approach from our team of advisors,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The Fundamentum will look to back about 10-15 start-ups at the series B and series C stages and lead rounds ranging from $10 million to $25 million. The fund will not invest in any start-ups in the sector such as education and payments and venture that are using Aadhaar as core infrastructure, given Nilekani\u2019s philanthropic and advisory commitments in these areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no conflict (of interest) because I don\u2019t have a job (in these areas), but I think it\u2019s better that I stay away just as a healthy practice,\u201d said Nilekani<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The fund will mostly invest in tech-based start-ups and focus on consumer Internet space. It will also invest in enterprise technology and outsourcing ventures serving global firms.<\/p>\n

Nilekani has been a prolific investor in the Indian start-up ecosystem over the past couple of years, with investments in publishing start-up Juggernaut, media venture The Print and e-commerce start-up 10i commerce services.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"