New Delhi, Jan 14 (IANS): Software major Infosys Wednesday announced a $250-million (Rs.1,550-crore) 'Innovate in India' fund to financially support start-ups.

Infosys chief executive Vishal Sikka, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi here, said the fund would invest in promising Indian firms.

"As start-ups represent vision, hope and the entrepreneurial spirit of India, we will invest in great start-ups to amplify their engineering and operations and help in taking their innovations to market at scale," Sikka said.

Asserting that next-generation solutions built on emerging computing technologies would dramatically reshape, he said the company would work with innovative firms to strengthen their collective potential and accelerate the success of the prime minister's 'Digital India' mission, aimed at helping people gain benefits from the latest in information technology.

The board of the $8.3-billion outsourcing major Jan 9 expanded its innovation fund to $500 million from $100 million to accelerate the creation of its worldwide ecosystem of innovation.

The fund will also be used to invest in young companies innovating in next-generation solutions and technologies such as artificial intelligence, automation, pervasive connectedness and collaborate and design technologies.