Multiples Alternate Asset Management Pvt. Ltd, the Renuka Ramnath-led private equity firm, has invested $20 million (Rs 142.12 crore at current exchange rates) in big data startup Quantiphi Inc.
Quantiphi said it will use the funds to expand its presence in the United States as well as explore new markets in Europe. It will also grow its sales and management team, and increase its research and development functions.
Ramnath said Quantiphi is doing “cutting-edge artificial intelligence work” and has some of the world’s largest companies as its clients. “This is the result of a powerful combination of four founders bringing in complimentary skills, a highly skilled and customer-obsessed team of 1,000+ engineers, and an impeccable client roster,” she said.
Quantiphi was founded by Vivek Khemani, Asif Hasan, Reghu Hariharan and Ritesh Patel, and incorporated in 2013. The company provides applied artificial intelligence and big data solutions to global Fortune 500 clients across several sectors, including insurance, healthcare, retail and education-technology.
The startup has over 1,000 employees spread across offices in Boston, New Jersey, Toronto, Mumbai and Bengaluru.
Quantiphi is the first investment by Multiples PE in the deep-tech segment. In the broader technology sector, the PE firm has previously backed fantasy sports platform Dream 11 and tech-focussed logistics company Delhivery Pvt. Ltd.
Other companies that the PE firm has invested in include textile manufacturer Arvind Ltd, Indian Energy Exchange, the SAR Group-promoted Livpure, multiplex chain PVR Ltd and Vastu Housing Finance Corp.
News of the investment in Quantiphi comes around three weeks after reports said that the PE firm had raised $560 million (around Rs 4,017 crore) for its third India-focussed fund. The fund has seen participation from the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and the Washington-headquartered International Finance Corporation.
The PE firm is seeking to make the final close of the fund at $800 million. The development comes a little more than a year after VCCircle reported that Multiples PE had raised nearly half the target corpus for its third fund. At the time, VCCircle had reported that the fund received commitments from investors for at least $400 million and up to $500 million to the mark the first close.
VCCircle had reported in February last year that Multiples had kicked off the fundraising process, aiming to raise at least $750 million with a hard cap of up to $850 million. At the time, Multiples was also said to be raising a side-car fund of $350 million to allow its limited partners to deploy additional funds for preferred investments.
