Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani joined hands with Helion’s senior managing director Sanjeev Aggarwal to launch an investment vehicle worth $100 million funds to fuel entrepreneurs.
The duo has set up the fund with an objective to help entrepreneurs manifest their ideas into reality, thereby creating something useful for the society as a whole.
They have a pre-decided pool of start-ups which they will be funding. These start-ups are sure to become second generation Infosys, TCS and Wipro, under the peerless guidance of industry experts like Nilekani. The investment fund has been named as ‘The Fundamentum Partnership’ which will ensure consistent and requisite support to all selected companies.
The investment proportion in ‘The Fundamentum Partnership’
From the total $100 million funds, as much as 450 million has already been received, out of which 433 million have been invested by the founder partners. The residual has been invested by different individuals who are being referred to as ‘coalition partners’ by the duo.
Can the $100 limit exceed?
The investing partners have decided to keep an initial investment size of 4100 million. However, it may be extended to $200 million subject to the entry of institutional investors.
“We want to select a few winners and instill the discipline of long-distance running. This is what the game is all about and that’s the background we have come from. There is a certain mindset — deferred gratification, for example, to build for the long term. We want people who are marathon runners to create a lasting legacy,” said Nilekani.
Sectors likely to be in focus
Nilekani said that the fund will be especially focussed on sectors like infrastructure and logistics amongst other long-term view projects.
Golden words from the fund founder
“There might be an initial period of cash burn, but we will bet on the long-term business model,” Nilekani said. “We see ourselves as more than just a fund. While there is capital available, taking a company from $10 million to $100 million and then to a $1-billion revenue, each of it is an inflection point that requires you to reorient your thinking, scale and figure out how to build culture, brand and an effective sales team. There is a lot of capital looking for right opportunities, but they need someone to curate it,” Nilekani added. The founder duo will not charge any management fee from the companies, unlike wide-spread market practices.
