Indian Billionaire Shiv Nadar Starts $500 Million Fund To Invest In US Startups

Shiv Nadar, the billionaire chairman of HCL Technologies Ltd., India's fourth-largest IT services provider, has launched a $500 million fund to invest in U.S. startups focused on healthcare technologies.

Nadar has teamed up with Sanjay Kalra, a former chief executive of Indian IT outsourcing provider Tech Mahindra Ltd., to set up a new firm, SNSK Associates, according to a press release from the firm Monday.

"SNSK will invest up to $500 million to buy-out IT product and platform companies ... which are either disrupting or being disrupted by the confluence of regulatory changes, evolving consumer attitudes, changing demographics and emerging technologies," Nadar and Kalra said, in the release.

The investment firm will target healthcare companies, including hospitals, clinics, insurers, and companies in the pharmaceutical and life sciences sectors, they said.

“The U.S. healthcare industry is undergoing radical transformation with the Affordable Care Act. Evolving thought and business models have little semblance to present mechanisms," Nadar, who aims to play the role of a mentor at the investment firm, said in the press release.

Over the next five years, SNSK plans to invest in companies, whose "digital solutions" for the healthcare market can improve patient care, he said.

While the firm expects to build a portfolio of investments in mature businesses, it will also selectively invest in early-stage startups in both the U.S. and India to acquire relevant technologies and people.