- Wipro Ventures has so far invested in 16 early- to mid-stage companies
- Demisto, a cyber security company, that was a part of the program was acquired by Palo Alto Networks
Wipro Ventures, the strategic investment arm of Wipro Limited, (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO), a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, today announced the closing of its $150 million Fund II. The company informed that it will continue to invest in early to mid-stage companies building innovative enterprise software solutions across key areas, including cyber security, application development, analytics, cloud infrastructure, test automation, and AI.
“Wipro Ventures has become an integral part of our innovation ecosystem,” said Abidali Z Neemuchwala, CEO and MD, Wipro Limited. He added,”By doing this, we differentiate our customer services, generate revenue for our portfolio companies and deliver strategic as well as financial returns to Wipro. Wipro Ventures’ Fund II demonstrates our continued commitment to this strategy.”
Invested in 16 early- to mid-stage startups
Wipro Ventures, managed by Biplab Adhya and Venu Pemmaraju, has so far invested in 16 early- to mid-stage startups, including 11 in the US, 4 in Israel and 1 in India. More than 100 of Wipro’s global customers have benefited by deploying solutions from these portfolio companies.
“Our strategy has been to invest in promising enterprise software startups, establish strategic partnerships with them and bring their leading-edge solutions to our customers,” added Abidali Z Neemuchwala.
Companies within the portfolio have seen successful exits, including Demisto, a cyber security company that was acquired by Palo Alto Networks. Rishi Bhargava, a co-founder of Demisto, credited Wipro’s commitment to joint sales and go-to-market support, as one of the key drivers of its success.
“Within the first year of our partnership, Wipro and Demisto were working together on dozens of Fortune 1000 opportunities and closing a majority of them,” said Bhargava. “It’s exciting to see Wipro Ventures continue to enhance the startup ecosystem with new capital while helping companies boost their bottom line.”
In addition to making direct equity investments, Wipro Ventures has also invested in five early-stage enterprise focused venture funds in Israel, New York and Los Angeles.
