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Dell Ventures to spend $ 300 Milllion for innovation
NEW DELHI: Dell Ventures, Dell’s strategic investment arm, has announced an expanded commitment to entrepreneurship and innovation with a $300 million Strategic Innovation Venture Fund. The fund will enable Dell to invest in early-to-growth-stage companies in emerging technology areas including storage, cloud computing, big data, next-generation data center, security and mobility.
Earlier, Dell made major investment fund on the $60 million Dell Fluid Data Storage Fund announced last year. Since then, Dell has completed road shows to meet with entrepreneurs and VCs in Silicon Valley, Boston and Israel, reviewed hundreds of companies and invested in numerous startups that have contributed to Dell’s storage and end-to-end solutions innovation.
As the global business environment evolves and customers are increasingly challenged by the pace of change with virtualisation, cloud computing, big data and mobility, Dell is expanding its venture investments to new areas of IT innovation.
“Dell is committed to bringing the most innovative, affordable and easy to manage technology solutions to our customers. To accomplish this, we will aggressively pursue organic investment in R&D, acquisitions and venture investing,” said Dell Chief Financial Officer Brian Gladden in a release. “The expansion of our venture investing will allow us to stay at the forefront of innovation for our customers, and support the entrepreneurs who are helping shape the future of IT.”
The Dell Ventures model is to co-invest with venture capitalists and other strategic investors, acting as a board advisor and making the full breadth of Dell resources available to the portfolio company. These resources include technical and business counsel, as well as access to brand scale, OEM solutions, channel and go-to-market relationships.
In addition to equipping startups with resources through Dell Ventures, Dell provides entrepreneurs an access to the technology, financing, networks and knowledge that they need to turn a great idea into a successful, growing business through the Dell Center for Entrepreneurs.
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Kotak Mahindra Prime names Suraj Rajappan as managing director and chief executive
The car-finance arm of Kotak Mahindra Bank lines up a new chief and raises its borrowing limit
MUMBAI: Suraj Rajappan is getting the keys. Kotak Mahindra Prime Limited (KMPL), India’s veteran car-finance outfit, has named him managing director and chief executive, effective June 1st, 2026—the same day his predecessor drives off into retirement.
The board approved the appointment at its meeting on March 18th. Rajappan, currently a whole-time director at the company, has spent his entire 24-year career at KMPL, working across functions before rising to the top job. The three-year term remains subject to shareholder approval, and the company confirmed he faces no bar from SEBI or any other authority from holding the post.
He takes over from Shahrukh Todiwala, who superannuates on May 31st after more than three decades with the Kotak Group. Ashok Vaswani, managing director and chief executive of parent Kotak Mahindra Bank, was generous in his send-off. Todiwala, he said, “leaves behind a legacy marked by prudent growth, strong risk discipline, and a focus on customer-centricity.” Of his successor, Vaswani was equally bullish: Rajappan’s “deep industry experience and execution capabilities position KMPL well for its next phase of growth.”
The board also loosened the purse strings, raising the company’s overall outstanding debt limit from Rs 43,000 crore to Rs 48,000 crore. The expanded ceiling covers bank loans, debentures, commercial paper, treasury operations, credit facilities and external commercial borrowings.
KMPL has operated as a car-finance company since 1996, branching into two-wheeler loans in 2018 and loans against property in 2021. With fresh leadership, a bigger borrowing arsenal and an ambitious lender for a parent, Rajappan’s first task is clear: step on the accelerator.
