Reliance Industries has invested $100 million in early stage VC fund Kalaari Capital through its digital arm, Jio Platforms. The company will also invest an additional capital of $100 million in Kalaari within the next year. This marks RIL’s maiden investment in a VC fund and the deal is slated to be one of the the largest commitments by an Indian conglomerate in a VC firm.

Interestingly, the move comes after RIL’s acquisition of Kalaari backed startups such as Urban Ladder and Zivame.

Founded by technopreur Vani Kola in 2006, Kalaari Capital invests in early stage technology startups. The VC fund came in the limelight for backing startups such as SnapDeal, Dream11, CureFit, InstaMojo, Signzy among various others. The fund currently manages asset worth $650 million. The VC fund has last raised capital in 2015 when it had picked up $290 million.

The Bangalore based VC fund has been on the lookout to raise its fourth fund for over a few years. In January 2019, Vani Kola had said that the fund was targeting $200 million but no further announcements were made.

A Reliance spokesperson said in an email response to a leading daily, “Reliance remains committed to supporting the build-up of a thriving startup ecosystem in India, particularly in digital enablement space, and will continue to explore various avenues to do so.”

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