More money is going to pour into Indian startups as Dell’s $300 million venture fund eyes India

Dell is mulling to tap the Indian startup culture. The $300-million venture fund arm of Dell-Dell Ventures- is likely to invest in new-age disruptive startups.

In an interview to ET, a top company executive said this move will be a part of its broader push into Asia.

"We're investing to innovate in India, to innovate in Asia, to create an outreaching ecosystem in Asia which is different. We announced Dell Ventures in China, we announced a $125-million investment in China and we've also announced a continued expansion in India, from a 27,000-people perspective," Amit Midha, president of Asia-Pacific and Japan at Dell, told ET.

In 2013, Dell had created a Strategic Innovation Fund, which was a welcome move by experts.

"What we are interested in is furthering our strategy in India. We are not a hedge fund, we are not a VC firm - what we are interested in is, as and when an opportunity comes that fits in with our strategy, we will be interested in backing. And not only commercial relationships, but also financial relationships," Midha told ET.

Dell is also looking to partner with the new-age startups building disruptive solutions with newer technologies.

"We are looking at cloud, IoT (internet of things), big data and security. We like to look at startups that have gone beyond the 5-people operation stage. Otherwise it becomes too much of a headache for us. The company needs to have some sort of momentum, some customer traction - we are not an accelerator, we are more interested in companies that are growing their businesses. And our involvement will help them grow even faster and also give them credibility points," said Midha.

(Image: Reuters)