INVESTMENT FLASH-WIPRO

Wipro invests $5 million in cloud and M-to-M services provider Axeda Corporation

• The country's third-largest software exporter Wipro has invested $5 million ( 28.3 crore) in Axeda, a US-based software solutions provider, for an undisclosed minority stake.This is the second such minority investment Wipro is making within the span of a month. In May, it announced a $30-million minority investment in US-based big data analytics firm Opera Solutions.

• The investment in Axeda comes a little after Wipro signed an agreement with US telecom major AT&T to offer machine-to-machine solutions using the Axeda platform. With a client roster that includes Philips, Siemens and Diebold, the US-based company is among the top three service providers specialising in M-to-M software, which facilitates communication between connected devices such as a refrigerator and smartphone.

• "The chief strategy office has consciously decided to make such (minority) investments and it will continue to do so," said Anurag Srivastava, chief technology officer at Wipro. 

• "Companies make these minority deals in new technologies to test the waters," said a Mumbai-based investment banker. He said there could a string of such deals in the future.

• Wipro is  looking to such strategies to get faster access to emerging technologies and fuel growth.