Ratan Tata's RNT Capital To Invest $150 Mn in Alibaba's Ant Financial

Ratan Tata-founded RNT Capital Advisors will invest about $150 million in the mega financing round of Ant Financial Services, an affiliate company of the Chinese Alibaba Group and also the world’s most highly valued private technology company, said a report by Economics Times, citing two people privy to the development.

Notably, according an another report by Bloomberg, Ant Financial has reportedly raised about $14 billion in its latest funding round backed by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte., Warburg Pincus, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Silver Lake and Temasek Holdings Pte.

It is too be noted that as of now it is not clear that whether the investment to be made by RNT Capital, is part of this tranche of funding raised by Ant financial, or will be part of next tranche of same funding round or another round.

According to the Economic Times report, the investment by RNT Capital will be part of a $10-12 billion funding round that is expected to value Ant Financial at $150 billion, outrunning the ride-hailing giant Uber, which is valued at $70 billion. For its investment, RNT Capital will get about a 0.1% stake in Ant Financial.

The proposed investment in Ant Financial will be the first known investment outside India for the RNT Capital. According to a Bloomberg report, Alipay, the digital payment product from Ant Financial, clocks up $2.4 trillion worth of mobile payments every three months and has 870 million customers.

Launched in 2016, RNT Capital is a global investment platform backed by Mr. Ratan Tata with close partnership with the office of the Chief Investment Officer of the Regents, University of California, and thus called as UC-RNT FUnd. The fund invests in disruptive, technology-oriented businesses across the world and takes a long-term, founder-centric approach to investing, often relying on its propriety sourcing advantage. It partners closely with the office of the Chief Investment Officer of the Regents, University of California.

RNT Capital (UC-RNT Fund) has earlier backed companies like ride-hailing app Ola in a $100-million round. Other investments include mobile point-of-sales solutions company Mswipe and healthcare startup Curefit -- both in 2017.

In January this year, RNT Capital invested $7.4 million in Bangalore-based Medtech startup Axio Biosolutions.

For Ratan Tata, Ant Financial will be the second Chinese technology company he will be investing in. In 2015, he had made a personal investment through RNT Associates in smartphone maker Xiaomi.

To recall, Ratan Tata had recently announced his ₹900 million plan to fund in such Indian startups in which no other investors like to invest. The funding will be made through his Tata Trust’s FISE or the Foundation for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship, a social impact fund as well as a business incubator.

Ratan Tata's RNT Capital To Invest $150 Mn in Alibaba's Ant Financial

Ratan Tata-founded RNT Capital Advisors will invest about $150 million in the mega financing round of Ant Financial Services, an affiliate company of the Chinese Alibaba Group and also the world’s most highly valued private technology company, said a report by Economics Times, citing two people privy to the development.

Notably, according an another report by Bloomberg, Ant Financial has reportedly raised about $14 billion in its latest funding round backed by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte., Warburg Pincus, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Silver Lake and Temasek Holdings Pte.

It is too be noted that as of now it is not clear that whether the investment to be made by RNT Capital, is part of this tranche of funding raised by Ant financial, or will be part of next tranche of same funding round or another round.

According to the Economic Times report, the investment by RNT Capital will be part of a $10-12 billion funding round that is expected to value Ant Financial at $150 billion, outrunning the ride-hailing giant Uber, which is valued at $70 billion. For its investment, RNT Capital will get about a 0.1% stake in Ant Financial.

The proposed investment in Ant Financial will be the first known investment outside India for the RNT Capital. According to a Bloomberg report, Alipay, the digital payment product from Ant Financial, clocks up $2.4 trillion worth of mobile payments every three months and has 870 million customers.

Launched in 2016, RNT Capital is a global investment platform backed by Mr. Ratan Tata with close partnership with the office of the Chief Investment Officer of the Regents, University of California, and thus called as UC-RNT FUnd. The fund invests in disruptive, technology-oriented businesses across the world and takes a long-term, founder-centric approach to investing, often relying on its propriety sourcing advantage. It partners closely with the office of the Chief Investment Officer of the Regents, University of California.

RNT Capital (UC-RNT Fund) has earlier backed companies like ride-hailing app Ola in a $100-million round. Other investments include mobile point-of-sales solutions company Mswipe and healthcare startup Curefit -- both in 2017.

In January this year, RNT Capital invested $7.4 million in Bangalore-based Medtech startup Axio Biosolutions.

For Ratan Tata, Ant Financial will be the second Chinese technology company he will be investing in. In 2015, he had made a personal investment through RNT Associates in smartphone maker Xiaomi.

To recall, Ratan Tata had recently announced his ₹900 million plan to fund in such Indian startups in which no other investors like to invest. The funding will be made through his Tata Trust’s FISE or the Foundation for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship, a social impact fund as well as a business incubator.

Medtech Startup Axio Biosolutions Raises $7.4 Mn Via Ratan Tata's RNT Capital

Medtech startup Axio Biosolutions raised USD 7.4 million funding in Series B round from Ratan Tata's RNT Capital, which will be used for expansion to new markets, and development of high-impact medical products, reported ANI.

Apart from the Tata, existing investors Accel Partners and IDG Ventures India also participated in this round of funding.

Founded by Leo Mavely and Ashish Pandya, Axio is the first Indian company to launch an emergency haemostat for trauma care. Its flagship invention -- Axiostat, is a patented and CE-approved product that has prevented countless deaths due to haemorrhage and grievous injuries.

[caption id="attachment_115866" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Battlefield proven Military Variant of Axiostat currently used by Army, Paramilitary of India and abroad[/caption]

The first-aid dressing stops uncontrollable bleeding within just 2-3 minutes of its application, thus saving lives. Axiostat is the de-facto product of Indian armed forces after being used in the surgical strike to save the lives of soldiers and is now an essential part of their field kit. The product caters to the Indian Armed Forces, BSF, NSG, para-military forces, hospitals and emergency services in India and across the globe, and for this we have put Axio among India's 9 Top Defence Tech Startups.

"Uncontrolled bleeding is one of the leading causes of death from traumatic injuries. We are grateful to make a meaningful impact in this space by saving lives of innocent victims. The current round of funding will help us expand into new markets and introduce more products in the wound care and drug delivery space", said Leo Mavely, Founder and CEO of Axio Biosolutions.

Headquartered in Boston, Axio Biosolutions has its corporate office in Bengaluru and GMP-certified manufacturing facility in Gujarat. The company has built a strong R&D structure, with multiple patents to its credit in the wound healing, mucoadhesive drug delivery, and hemostats space.

In September 2016, Axio expanded its operations to UK and with that it expanded its footprints in thirteen countries including Europe, Middle-East and Africa, reinforcing its commitment to address the unmet wound care challenges across the globe.

Talking about Ratan Tata, he recently announced his ₹900 million plan to fund in such Indian startups in which no other investors like to invest. The funding will be made through his Tata Trust’s FISE or the Foundation for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship, a social impact fund as well as a business incubator.

Medtech Startup Axio Biosolutions Raises $7.4 Mn Via Ratan Tata's RNT Capital

Medtech startup Axio Biosolutions raised USD 7.4 million funding in Series B round from Ratan Tata's RNT Capital, which will be used for expansion to new markets, and development of high-impact medical products, reported ANI.

Apart from the Tata, existing investors Accel Partners and IDG Ventures India also participated in this round of funding.

Founded by Leo Mavely and Ashish Pandya, Axio is the first Indian company to launch an emergency haemostat for trauma care. Its flagship invention -- Axiostat, is a patented and CE-approved product that has prevented countless deaths due to haemorrhage and grievous injuries.

[caption id="attachment_115866" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Battlefield proven Military Variant of Axiostat currently used by Army, Paramilitary of India and abroad[/caption]

The first-aid dressing stops uncontrollable bleeding within just 2-3 minutes of its application, thus saving lives. Axiostat is the de-facto product of Indian armed forces after being used in the surgical strike to save the lives of soldiers and is now an essential part of their field kit. The product caters to the Indian Armed Forces, BSF, NSG, para-military forces, hospitals and emergency services in India and across the globe, and for this we have put Axio among India's 9 Top Defence Tech Startups.

"Uncontrolled bleeding is one of the leading causes of death from traumatic injuries. We are grateful to make a meaningful impact in this space by saving lives of innocent victims. The current round of funding will help us expand into new markets and introduce more products in the wound care and drug delivery space", said Leo Mavely, Founder and CEO of Axio Biosolutions.

Headquartered in Boston, Axio Biosolutions has its corporate office in Bengaluru and GMP-certified manufacturing facility in Gujarat. The company has built a strong R&D structure, with multiple patents to its credit in the wound healing, mucoadhesive drug delivery, and hemostats space.

In September 2016, Axio expanded its operations to UK and with that it expanded its footprints in thirteen countries including Europe, Middle-East and Africa, reinforcing its commitment to address the unmet wound care challenges across the globe.

Talking about Ratan Tata, he recently announced his ₹900 million plan to fund in such Indian startups in which no other investors like to invest. The funding will be made through his Tata Trust’s FISE or the Foundation for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship, a social impact fund as well as a business incubator.

Ratan Tata's New "$300 Mn" Venture Fund To Invest in Startups in India, Southeast Asia and the US

Amid dry Funding in startup ecosystem of India, RNT Capital Advisers, the newly set up venture fund launched by Tata Sons chairman emeritus Ratan Tata will deploy $300 million across startups in India, Southeast Asia and the US.

The fund will typically invest $10-15 million of capital into tech businesses. Mayank Singhal, who was until recently with the Singapore government's investment fund Temasek Holdings, would be leading the India investments while Mathias Imbach, who has been with RNT Associates since last year, will look to build the fund's presence in Southeast Asia.

Structured as an evergreen fund with an indefinite life, RNT Capital has University of California Investments (UC Investments) as its largest limited partner.

Earier in February, UC Investments, which has $100 billion in management across endowment and pension funds, said it will invest in Indian enterprises as it tied up with RNT Associates, Tata's personal family office.

Few speculations also suggests that RNT Capital is in advanced discussions with mobile advertising platform InMobi and Flipkart-backed logistics startup Qikpod.

Ratan Tata,78,has made over ten investments in the past year in Indian and international companies and except for three, all his investments are in internet-based ventures including Indian e-commerce giant Snapdeal. Ratan Tata not only built a sizeable portfolio but also took on the role of an advisor to three VC firms -- IDG Ventures, Kalaari Capital and Jungle Ventures.

RNT Associates presently has a portfolio of over 30 companies including Paytm, Ola, Urban Ladder, Teabox and LensKart. Tata was at the time investing anywhere between Rs 1 crore to Rs 3 crore across healthcare, gaming, analytics and a host of consumer internet businesses.