Top Bangalore-based IT execs joining hands to launch Exfinity Fund to back early-stage tech ventures

Several IT professionals are joining hands to launch a venture capital fund, named Exfinity Fund, in Bangalore with a corpus Rs 125 crore ($20.28 million), as per a report in Business Standard.

"SEBI approval process has been initiated and Exfinity Fund should get started pretty soon. The whole idea of this fund was initiated to fund various ideas coming out of Infosys, but the same has been broad-based," the senior investment banker who is aware of Exfinity Fund told BS.

Initially five technology veterans are launching the VC fund – Girish Paranjpe (former Wipro co-CEO), Deepak Ghaisas (earlier CEO of i-flex Solutions), Mohandas Pai (former Infosys director and now with Manipal Global Education) and V Balakrishnan (a senior board member of Infosys). It will be managed by CEO and MD of Azure Capital Advisors Shailesh Ghorpade.

The move by V Balakrishnan and Mohandas Pai to invest in Exfinity Fund comes close after both of them have made key investments in Unitus Seed Fund, which backs entrepreneurs who target the bottom-of-the-pyramid (BoP) market.

Last month, Balakrishnan offloaded a part of his personal holding in Infosys for Rs 33 crore.

Mohandas Pai is also raising an sector agnostic private equity fund along with Ranjan Pai of Manipal Group. A part of the PE fund has been raised and being invested from. Recently, both of them had invested in a technology accelerator fund called the Habit Fund.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)