Telecom Lead India: Cisco has announced an
investment in Aavishkaar, a venture fund founded to promote development in
rural and semi-urban India.
Cisco will invest in Aavishkaar India II and will collaborate
with other investors to drive sustainable business models with social impact
that utilize the power of the network.
Cisco’s investment in Aavishkaar supports our goal to
play an active role in opportunities that focus on driving rural transformation
in the Indian economy. We believe that the focus areas as identified by
Aavishkaar, especially education and health care, are very important and tie in
with Cisco’s priorities for India,” said Joydeep Bose, managing director,
Corporate Development, Cisco Asia Pacific and Japan.
Working with Aavishkaar, the company aims to take
advantage of its expertise and promote technology-enabled inclusive growth in
the area of social entrepreneurship.
Participation by Cisco in Aavishkaar II clearly
demonstrates the opportunity that rural India holds for creating value and
impact,” said Vineet Rai, founder and managing partner at Aavishkaar.
Cisco said that it is committed to India and sees
making investments in the country as an important way to learn about the local
market, align technology innovation, and help spread the benefits of technology
to a wider group of people.
Over the past few years Cisco has committed up to $200 million
of venture capital investments to the country, of which almost half has been
utilized.
Recently, Cisco
expanded its set-top box portfolio with the launch of two new set-top boxes at
the Cable Summit, held in Mumbai, India. The entry-level SD digital terminal
adapter (DTA), and a HD Zapper, are localized and priced competitively for
India and emerging markets.
