Goldman Sachs Principal Strategic Investment (GSPSI), an investment arm of Goldman Sachs, is scouting for investments in Indian start-ups in financial technology and innovation space. The company is keen to invest about $2-10 million and is in talks with a couple of start-ups.
“As we look at now, financial technology and innovation are the next waves. These opportunities excite us and we intend to acquire a minority stake and if possible a board seat, in lieu of these investments,” Alokik Advani, Managing Director and Head of the PSI group at Goldman Sachs, said.
The investment criteria includes a strategic partnership with the company based on successful proof of concept of product and GSPSI will stay invested for an average five years.
GSPSI will leverage the parent Goldman Sachs’ India network to identify start-ups with whom it can establish a strategic partnership. Typically, before taking a stake, Goldman Sachs will enter into a relationship with a start-up by becoming a client.
“We will provide Indian start-ups an opportunity to take their service offerings to a global scale,” he added.
The investment arm is interested in companies into data analytics and machine learning, apart from trading technology, market infrastructure, information services and security software, among others.
GSPSI, which has a portfolio of 75 investments of which 12 are in Asia-Pacific region, has a 20-member global team overseeing the operations. Investments in Indian companies will be made a Hong Kong-based team.
The company is also looking at Bengaluru for an innovation centre as 41 per cent of the total start-ups in India are based out of Bengaluru and it also home to the largest number of venture capital funds, he added.