Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has invested $8 million in San Diego-headquartered NetraDyne Inc., an artificial intelligence (AI) start-up, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Ltd (RIIHL).
In June, RIIHL had invested $16 million in the start-up that focuses on fleet management, automotive, security and surveillance.
The company’s latest investment translates into a 37.4% equity stake in the firm, RIL said in an exchange filing.
RIIHL also plans to raise ₹2,000 crore to meet funding requirements and invest in start-ups, said two people aware of the matter. “The funds will be raised through optionally convertible preference shares at a dividend rate of 6%,” said the first person mentioned above, requesting anonymity. Optionally, convertible preference shares are issued on a rights basis to existing equity shareholders.
RIL did not respond to an email query seeking further details till press time.
“RIIHL is raising the funds to finance similar acquisitions and also for general corporate purposes,” said the second person, also requesting anonymity.
RIIHL had raised ₹4,000 crore in June through optionally convertible preference shares to meet the group’s funding and investment requirements, including for its telecom venture, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.
Over the past few months, RIL, along with its subsidiaries, have been acquiring stakes in various ventures, including The Indian Film Combine, Eros International, Saavn, Embibe and KareXpert Technologies. In June, it had acquired US-based Radisys Corporation, an open telecom solutions provider. Radisys, headquartered in Oregon, has nearly 600 employees with an engineering team based in Bengaluru.
The acquisition will help accelerate Jio’s global innovation and technology in the areas of 5G, IoT and open-source architecture adoption, RIL had said.
RIIHL has backed 40 subsidiaries, which include Indiawin Sports Pvt. Ltd, Naroda Power Pvt. Ltd, Reliance Jio Media Pvt. Ltd and Reliance Payment Solutions Ltd, according to Reliance Industries’ 2017-18 annual report.
Source: Mint