Cisco is making big bets in Indian firms

One of the recent investment Cisco has done is a $3.7 billion deal with a startup called AppDynamics Inc - a US-based application performance management and IT operations analytics company.

AppDynamics helps large enterprises translate vast amounts of complex, weave data into business insights and empower them to drive value for their customers. This is Cisco’s largest acquisition since it acquired security firm Sourcefire for $2.7 billion in 2013.

The US company has also been making venture-style investments in India. Until last year, Cisco had invested in about 25 companies in India.

In March 2016, Cisco said it would invest $100 million to fund startups and train 2.5 lakh students in India by 2020.

The company, which has over 10,000 employees in India, is looking at funding early- and growth-stage companies in the country across areas such as Internet of Things and smart cities.

In November last year, Cisco Investments joined the Series B funding round of Pune- and San Francisco-based mobile customer relationship management firm Helpshift Inc.

In October 2015, Cisco took over Bangalore-based IT security firm Pawaa Software Pvt Ltd. for an undisclosed amount, making its first acquisition in India.