Investor Profile: Cisco Investments — Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

Cisco Investments funding is the corporate venture arm of the networking giant Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), and it has been backing enterprise-tech startups for over three decades. In 2024 it made headlines by launching a $1 billion global AI investment fund, committing nearly $200 million of it straight away into Cohere, Mistral AI and Scale AI — with Cisco the largest strategic investor in Scale AI's Series F. For founders building infrastructure, security or AI tooling, Cisco Investments is both capital and a route into one of the world's largest enterprise customer bases.

Cisco Investments funding thesis

The thesis is domain expertise: Cisco invests where it is already a global leader. The focus areas on its official site are Silicon & Optics, Services & CX, Collaboration, Cloud, IT Ops, Security, Enterprise Networking, IoT, Mass Scale Infrastructure, Data Center Networking and Emerging Technologies & Incubation. The arm also runs fund-of-funds investing (50+ investments in venture funds) and deploys "100s of millions" annually across 100+ active portfolio companies. The model is "build, buy, partner, invest and co-develop": portfolio companies get access to Cisco's salesforce, global customer base, product teams and the annual Cisco Live event, plus a dedicated Portfolio Development team and board representation.

Cheque size and stages

Cisco Investments publishes no fixed cheque range; independent trackers typically report investments of $10–50 million. It has historically leaned toward Series A, Series B and growth rounds, but its India leadership has said it deliberately builds relationships with seed-stage founders early — investing "around" their business models and following on as they mature. The $1 billion AI fund is explicitly earmarked for startups advancing AI readiness for customers.

Notable portfolio and India activity

Globally, the AI-fund anchors are Cohere, Mistral AI and Scale AI; earlier themes covered IoT, big data and connected mobility. India has its own chapter: Cisco allocated $40 million to early-stage Indian firms under its India Innovation theme in 2014, made its first themed investment in Mumbai-based analytics startup Covacsis, and announced the $70 million Cisco India Startups Fund in 2017. Earlier strategic bets included data-centre services firm Netmagic, Apalya, Bangalore's MobStac and a commitment to the Aavishkaar social-investment fund. Named leaders include Derek Idemoto (Senior Vice President), Janey Hoe (Vice President), Jon Koplin (Managing Director) and Prasad Parthasarathi (Senior Director).

How to get funding from Cisco Investments

Cisco sources deals through its investment managers, who scan the market against specific themes, and through the wider VC, banker, incubator and industry-forum ecosystem — a warm introduction from a co-investor is the classic route. For early-stage Indian founders there is a second door: Cisco LaunchPad, the company's Bangalore accelerator (run from the Cisco campus at Cessna Business Park), which takes 4–6 startups per four-month cohort across networking, security, IoT, collaboration and cloud.

How to apply for funding

There is no public pitch form on the Cisco Investments site. Growth-stage founders should approach the investment team through a themed introduction or an existing investor. Early-stage Indian teams can apply to Cisco LaunchPad via startups.cisco.com, which publishes cohort criteria and an online application; the programme takes no equity.