Info Edge Launches INR 100 Cr Fund To Invest In Tech Startups

Noida-based Info Edge (India) Ltd, the parent company of online job listing platform Naukri, on Thursday (January 23), announced that it has launched an INR 100 Cr IE Venture Fund. The fund is sponsored through Smartweb Internet Services Ltd, a wholly-owned company of Info Edge.

According to a National Stock Exchange filing, Info Edge said that the newly launched alternative investment fund will invest in tech and tech-enabled startups that create, market and distribute innovative products and services that benefit consumers at large.

Although Info Edge has launched its fund now, it has been backing startups in India for over a decade. Some of the notable startups in which Info Edge has invested in the past include food delivery unicorn Zomato, edtech platform Adda247, and digital ledger platform Khatabook.

Info Edge was also one of the major investors edtech platform Meritnation, however, it has reportedly sold its share to Delhi-based edtech company Aakash Educational for INR 50 Cr. It was estimated that till now, Info Edge had invested around INR 150 Cr in Meritnation.

Infor Edge’s tryst with edtech doesn’t end at Meritnation and Adda247. In December 2017, the company has also invested in edtech startup Univariety.

In November 2019, Gurugram-based digital logistics platform Shipsy had raised an undisclosed amount of Pre-Series A funding led by Info Edge. Info Edge also led a $4.87 Mn Series C funding in human resources (HR) tech startup Greytip Software Private Limited in October last year.

Info Edge had also been an early backer of agritech startup Gramophone. In August 2019, the company has also participated in $3.5 Mn equity funding round of Gramophone.

According to DataLabs by Inc42’s ‘Annual Indian Tech Startup Funding Report 2019’, by the end of the of 2019, the total funding poured into Indian startups since 2014 stood at $58 Bn whereas the total count of funding deals crossed the 5K mark with 5,011 investments. In 2019, the total funding raised by tech startups in India across 766 deals was $12.7 Bn, which is a 15% increase from 2018.