Wipro Ventures heads into new decade with a fresh pair of hands at its wheels-OxBig News Network

Bengaluru: Wipro Ventures’ new co-managing partner Ali Wasti is expected to drive a deeper focus on artificial intelligence at the $500-million corporate venture arm of Wipro Ltd.

The investment firm recently appointed Wasti, a veteran investor in deep-tech startups, to replace Venu Pemmaraju, who retired from the company last week.

San Francisco-based Wasti was previously with Hewlett Packard Enterprise, where he was senior managing director and global head of investments at Pathfinder Ventures, HP’s venture arm.

In his new role, Wasti will work alongside Biplab Adhya, Wipro Ventures’ co-managing partner who has been with the investment firm since it was started a decade ago. Although Wasti joined Wipro Ventures in January, the company has not yet publicly announced his appointment.

An MBA from Harvard Business School, Wasti began his career at IBM. At Pathfinder Ventures for over four years, he focused primarily on artificial intelligence, data infrastructure and cybersecurity, per his recent LinkedIn post.

Pemmaraju, who co-steered Wipro’s venture arm for a decade and invested in companies like Vicarious, Tradeshift, and Lilt, announced his retirement on LinkedIn on 2 April.

An analyst attributed Wasti’s appointment to Wipro Ventures’ focus on AI.

“With a big focus on AI, I believe they are looking for someone with more of a software background and proven track record,” said R. Wang, founder of Constellation Research, a California-based tech consulting firm.

Wipro did not reply to queries emailed on Saturday.

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A win-win for Wipro

Wipro Ventures was launched in 2015 as a strategic investment arm of Wipro to gain a toehold in startups that threatened the dominance that IT service providers had in the space.

Over the years, automation and the sprouting of startups developing innovative software products has taken a toll on the work done by IT outsourcers, which employ an army of engineers to oversee such work.

When Wipro Ventures invests money in a startup, it takes the startup’s offerings to Wipro, which then sells those to its clients—allowing Wipro to make money from its investments and the startups to gain access to Wipro’s steady pool of clients.

“While in the past there was a heavy investment in automation and cybersecurity, I believe Wipro is ramping up on not only AI investments but also vertical investments going forward,” said Wang.

Wipro recently infused $200 million into Wipro Ventures to help accelerate the firm’s investments in early- to mid-stage startups.

“This latest investment reaffirms our commitment to helping startups grow faster, innovate, and collaborate with the IT services industry to support large enterprises,” Wipro chief executive Srini Pallia said in a statement on 26 February.

“We envision a collaborative ecosystem where these emerging technologies can be deployed globally, drive progress, and create sustainable value for all stakeholders involved,” he added.

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A decade of Wipro Ventures

At its start, Wipro Ventures was overseen by Wipro chairman Rishad Premji, who was then Wipro’s chief strategy officer and director, with Pemmaraju and Adhya as co-managing partners.

The venture arm invested $32 million in 10 startups and two venture capital firms in 2015. So far, it has made investments in 37 companies and has more than 250 clients.

A majority of Wipro Ventures’ portfolio companies are based in the US with a few in Europe, India, and a sole Chinese IT firm.

Wipro Ventures is not the only investment arm associated with India’s fourth-largest information technology services company.

Azim Premji, Wipro’s founder, has a family office under the name of Premji Invest, which invests in startups building new-age technologies while also supporting initiatives of the Azim Premji Foundation, one of India’s largest private philanthropic foundations.

Premji Invest also had a joint-CEO structure until Dileep Ranjekar retired last year. Ranjekar ran the firm with Anurag Behar until 2022. Premji Invest primarily supports initiatives of the Azim Premji Foundation, which is led by Behar.

Infosys Ltd also runs a venture firm called Infosys Innovation Fund, which has a capital of $500 million. It has invested in eight startups specialising in space-tech, defence, healthcare, and sports technology.

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