Microsoft’s Venture Fund M12 Funds Innovaccer, Its First Investment in India

M12 on Wednesday announced its first-ever investment in India. Microsoft's corporate venture fund is leading a series-B round in Innovaccer, a healthcare data platform company. Rashmi Gopinath, partner at M12, who will be leading M12's investments in India, made the announcement at Microsoft's annual Media and Analyst Days in Bengaluru on Wednesday.

With her appointment, M12 aims to play a bigger, more active role in India's growing startup ecosystem. Tech B2B startups raised over $3.09 billion (roughly Rs. 22,000 crores) in equity funding across 415 deals in 2018, 28 percent more than $2.41 billion (roughly Rs. 17,000 crores) invested in 2017, according to Tracxn data shared by Microsoft.

Areas like artificial intelligence and machine learning, robotics, software as a service (SaaS), data analytics, and Internet of Things (IoT) will be top strategic priority focus areas for Microsoft and M12, the company said in a press statement.

“We are thrilled to broaden M12's reach to include India,” said Nagraj Kashyap, Global head of M12 and Corporate Vice President, Microsoft. “India is a market rich with entrepreneurs creating world-class startups that are poised for success on a global scale. In working with these innovative startups, we believe together we will help disrupt enterprises and industries ripe for digital transformation.”

With offices in both India and the United States, Innovaccer offers a comprehensive Healthcare Data Platform and intelligent care application modules for over 10,000 healthcare providers across 500 practice locations. Leveraging machine learning and healthcare-related contextual expertise, Innovaccer enables its users to consolidate financial, claims, patient, and operational data together to provide what it calls a comprehensive 360-degrees view for better decision-making, care coordination, and reporting.

Abhinav Shashank, CEO Innovaccer, said, “We are excited to work with M12 and Microsoft in order to leverage their best-in-class technical, industry, and go-to-market expertise to help address needs for healthcare organisations across the world.”