Microsoft's M12 to invest in Indian startups, picks up stake in Innovaccer

Bengaluru: Betting big on the burgeoning Indian startup ecoystem, Microsoft's corporate venture fund, M12, Wednesday said it will invest in various startups in the country with a funding size of $2 million to $10 million.

M12, formerly known as Microsoft Ventures, has chosen health-tech startup Innovaccer as its first investment in India.

M12 Partner Rashmi Gopinath said the entity will invest in enterprise B2B startups, participating in series A to C rounds with cheque sizes ranging between $2-10 million.

The company will lead these rounds or co-invest alongside strong local investors, she added. It focusses on areas like big data and analytics, business Software as a Service (SaaS), cloud infrastructure, machine learning and artificial intelligence, productivity and security.

Talking about Innovaccer, Gopinath said the startup is working to solve data interoperability challenges in healthcare and helping health systems enhance their clinical and financial outcomes with a data-first approach. Tech investment activity in India is at an all-time high. Venture capitals are estimated to have pumped in over $3.09 billion in business-to-business (B2B) startups in 2018 across 415 rounds, which is 28 per cent more than $2.41 billion invested in 2017, she said.

Moreover, an increasing number of enterprise B2B startups are being founded in India that cater to a global customer base, most notably in artificial intelligence and machine learning, robotics, SaaS, data analytics and Internet of Things (IoT), she added. India also offers a unique competitive advantage as it is home to top technical talent, including deep-tech areas such as computer vision, robotics, blockchain and autonomous driving, she said.