CDC Group backs India's Pi Ventures
CDC Group has committed $6 million to a fund managed by Pi Ventures, an Indian firm focused on artificial intelligence (AI) and internet-of-things (IoT).
It follows a $25 million second close for the fund earlier this year with support from the Small Industries Development Bank of India, Canada's In Colour Capital, domestic electronics maker Hero Electronix, and the International Finance Corporation, which committed $3 million in 2017. The fund has extended its initial targeted corpus of $30 million to an unspecified figure.
"This allows our capital to support early-stage companies that are innovating through technology to provide affordable goods and services at scale in areas such as healthcare among others," Alagappan Murugappan, a managing director and head of South Asia intermediated equity at CDC said, according to The Economic Times.
According to AVCJ Research, Pi has made at least eight investments since its founding in 2016, including cancer detection technology developer Niramai Health Analytix, energy consultancy Zenatix, and IoT specialist Altizon Systems. The GP has made two investments alongside Accel Partners in AI start-up SigTuple Technologies, including a $19 million round in June and $6 million round last year.
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