Persistent Systems launches early stage venture fund

Software product and technology services provider Persistent Systems today announced the creation of an early-stage investment fund focused on supporting innovation in social, mobile, analytics and cloud computing (SMAC) technologies.

The fund, Persistent Venture Fund, is focused on providing early stage companies from around the globe with seed capital for promising technology ventures. 

Persistent Systems also said it had made its maiden investment in  ustyme, a free, video-call app for iPad that provides books such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Henny Penny, and play well known games, like Checkers, Chess and Go Fish, while seeing and interacting with each other through a video-screen.

Persistent Systems says it intends to be a value-added partner to early stage entrepreneurs in its core sectors, enabling them to leverage Persistent's domain expertise and customer reach to benefit the start-up.

''The Persistent Venture Fund enables  innovative companies like ustyme to not only gain from our capital investment but to tap our seasoned engineers who are working with next-generation technologies,'' says Dr Sridhar Jagannathan, chief innovation officer, Persistent Systems, Inc. and head of the Persistent Innovation Venture Fund.

Dr Jagannathan adds, ''For Persistent Systems, investing in entrepreneurs who are pioneering development in the areas of our core competency brings benefits to the start-up and to Persistent. We look forward to actively working with our investee companies to enable their success.''