Sistema floats $50M Asia fund to invest in niche retail technology

Russia-based Sistema has floated a $50 million Asia Fund to invest in startups in India and Asia, reports ET. The company will focus on making Series A to Series C investments in the technology and niche consumer retail sectors.

Sistema mentions that the size of the fund is expected to be increased once the startup financing business grows. The fund will be advised by Insitel Services, a fully owned subsidiary of Sistema. Andrey Terebenin, former Sistema executive board member, has relocated to India as senior managing partner of Insitel to oversee the Asia Fund.

Last month, Reliance Communications (RCOM) received permission for its merger with Sistema Shyam Teleservices Limited (SSTL), which operates as MTS in India, from the BSE and the NSE. The merger was first announced in November, under which MTS would hold 10% equity stake in Reliance Communications.

In April last year, the company said it would provide free WiFi access for travelers at Varanasi, Ahmedabad, Agra, Mumbai CST, Howrah and Secunderabad railway stations.

Some of the other funds in India:

– Last month, VC firm Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) announced its latest fund Norwest Venture Partners XIII at $1.2 billion.

– The same month, we reported that Storm Ventures had launched a new fund for software-as-a-service (SaaS) startups in India, with an allocation of at least $10 million for the fund.

– In January, Unicorn India Ventures finished a first close of Rs 40 crore on its Rs 100 crore fund, which plans to invest in verticals like mobile, social media, analytics, cloud tech and Internet of Things (IoT).

– In December, Mumbai-based seed fund investor Blume Ventures raised $30 million for its Fund II. The firm is targeting to raise an overall fund of $60 million by March.

– In the same month, industrialist Sudhir Menon and digital marketer Atul Hegde set up a new $50 million early stage start-up fund called Rainmaker Ventures

– The same month, China’s APUS Group launched a fund in India worth Rs 300 crore to invest in startups.

– Tiger Global Management raised $2.5 billion for a new global fund. Read more here.