Bangalore, Feb 2: Unit Trust of India (UTI) on Friday announced its foray into the venture funds business in Bangalore. With an initial corpus of Rs 300 crore, the fund is targeting to beef it up by another $100 million from offshore funds during the course of this year. UTI Venture Funds has an exposure of about Rs 25 crore spread across six technology firms. The new company, UTI Venture Funds, will be headquartered in Bangalore. Its office was inaugurated by UTI chairman P S Subramanyam in the city on Friday.Mr Subramanyam said that after floating an offshore fund, UTI will help the investee companies in providing necessary linkages with global technology companies as well as in meeting foreign currency resource needs of these companies.
``Just as the farmer is the backbone of agriculture economy, venture funding is the backbone of the technology economy,'' he said.
Company officials added that the objective of the fund is to achieve superior long-term capital appreciation from companies that have strong sustainable competitive advantages in technology sectors.
Unit Trust of IndiaVenture Funds will also manage the India Technology Venture unit scheme floated by UTI. Besides, the fund managers of UTI ventures will offer guidance by particpating in the board and offering insights on good governance practices.
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