BENGALURU: International Finance Corporation (
IFC
), the investment arm of the World Bank Group, is investing $3 million in pi Ventures' maiden fund. An early-stage investment firm,
pi Ventures
is focused on startups in the area of applied artificial intelligence, machine learning and internet of things (
IoT
).
The amount will be used for investing in companies leveraging technologies such as applied artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and IoT across a range of sectors.
"Getting IFC to back us in our journey is very meaningful to us," said Manish Singhal, founding partner of pi Ventures. "Not only do they bring a wealth of knowledge but also a worldwide network, which can be very useful for our investee companies."
pi Ventures had raised $13 million in March from Small Industries Development Bank of India and leading entrepreneurs such as Mohandas Pai, Binny Bansal, Deep Kalra, Sanjeev Bikhchandani and Bhupen Shah. It has backed four projects so far -medical diagnostic
startup
SigTuple, heart monitoring startup ten3T Health (Cicer), energy management firm Zenatix and health analytics startup
Niramai
.
IFC's investment comes through IFC Startup Catalyst, a programme that aims to build local ecosystems by investing in sustainable seedstage funding mechanisms, including accelerators and seed funds, for supporting early-stage entrepreneurship globally. IFC has both a direct investment practice and is also a limited partner (LP) to local PE and VC funds.
IFC's venture capital investments in India include online grocery major
BigBasket
,
edutech
startup
Byju
's,
Portea
, a company providing affordable home care and BlackBuck, a leading player in elogistics.
"This investment is aligned with IFC's objective to act as a catalyst to spur entrepreneurial activity and support technology startups that drive innovation in India and globally, and solve complex problems across industries," said Ruchira Shukla, regional lead-venture capital (South Asia) at IFC.
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