Infosys to invest $10 mn in U.S.-based VC fund; share rises 1%

Infosys share rose over 1% in early trade on Thursday after the IT major committed to invest $10 million in The House Fund III, a venture capital (VC) fund based out of the U.S., subject to regulatory approval. The investment, expected to be completed by June 30 this year, is part of the company’s strategy to complement its organic capabilities and jointly help its clients across the globe to transform their businesses.

Infosys shares opened a tad lower at 1462.95 today, against the previous closing price of 1463.70, in sync with the broader market. The IT heavyweight soon pared losses and gained as much as 1.2% to 1481.90 levels. The BSE benchmark Sensex also rebounded strongly after a soft opening and was trading 282 points higher at 53,310 levels at the time of reporting.

Infosys share price has fallen more than 22% in the calendar year 2022, underperforming the benchmark Sensex, which dropped 10% during this period. It has dipped 2% in the last one month, while it has risen over 1.5% in the past one week.

The House Fund is a pre-seed and early-stage VC fund based out of Berkeley, California, investing in startups focused on artificial intelligence (AI). The areas of investment include enterprise software, saas, cloud, network, big data analytics, deep ML tools/platforms, robotics, quantum and blockchain across sectors.

“AI technology and application continues to evolve rapidly and is key to Infosys’ strategy with increased usage across its clients for creation of intelligent products/services, security and business transformation,” says the Bengaluru-headquartered company.

Infosys had committed to hire 25,000 American workers by 2022 across a variety of roles. It is targeting experienced technology professionals as well as recent graduates from major universities, liberal arts colleges, and community colleges to create the best workforce for the future. Infosys has launched six technology and innovation centres in the U.S. across Indiana, North Carolina, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Texas, and Arizona, to build leading-edge digital capabilities and training the next generation IT talent to support American businesses in an increasingly digital future.

In the financial year ending March 31, 2022, Infosys hired 54,396 employees in India, while around 22,000 employees were added in Q4 alone. It recruited around 85,000 freshers, taking the overall headcount to 3,14,015 by March 31, 2022. The company plans to hire 50,000 freshers in FY23.