START-UPS

Uber ex-CEO Kalanick's cryptic new fund 10100 to focus on India investments

Will Kalanick give wings to Modi's 'Make in India' and 'Start-up India'?

travis-kalanick-reuters [File] Travis Kalanick | Reuters

Cab aggregator Uber's co-founder and former chief executive officer Travis Kalanick is back from his brief hiatus, and this time, with a good news for India. The tech entrepreneur took to Twitter on Thursday to announce the launch of a new investment fund—10100 or ten-one-hundred—for investments focused on India and China. 

"The overarching theme will be about large-scale job creation, with investments in real estate, e-commerce and emerging innovation in China and India," he tweeted. 

With a focus on "education and future of cities", the fund will oversee for-profit investments as well as non-profit work, Kalanick added. 

Last June, Kalanick stepped down from the company he co-founded after a slew of setbacks. Uber had come under fire after various women called out a number of cases of workplace harassments in the company. Moreover, it was also taken to court by Google's self-driving car subsidiary Waymo over a patent issue. The case was recently settled with Uber agreeing to pay Waymo $245 million in compensation. 

Ever since his exit from Uber, Kalanick had been active in making investments in personal interest at various companies. Earlier this week, he had announced that he would join the board of California-based healthcare software startup Kareo. 

Now, with his India and China-focused venture fund, will Kalanick give wings to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' and 'Start-up India', both of which are yet to take off well?