TCS chief executive says tech spending will sustain; Infosys extends CEO Parekh’s tenure; MFine sacks 500 staff

Technology investments by the world’s biggest companies will continue to grow despite the current global uncertainties, Rajesh Gopinathan, chief executive of Tata Consultancy Services, one of the world’s biggest IT services providers, writes in the company’s annual report for the fiscal year that ended on March 31. "The war in Ukraine, the geopolitical tensions in Europe, and the resultant impact on global economic growth are real threats. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has shown us that enterprise spending on technology is far more resilient than most people think, as it is central to businesses’ ability to innovate and differentiate in good times, and to survive and adapt in tough times," Gopinathan writes. “At our current pace of growth, it is only a matter of time before we double our revenues and hit the $50 billion mark,” he writes. Infosys, India’s second-largest IT services company, has extended CEO Salil Parekh’s tenure by about another five years, starting July 1, the company told the stock exchanges in a statement. Parekh, who came to Infosys from Capgemini in January 2018, is widely credited for returning Infosys to industry-leading growth, expanding and deepening its capabilities in cloud services and AI. The appointment is subject to shareholder approval. MFine, a healthcare tech platform provider in Bengaluru, has fired between 500 and 600 people, based on reports from Economic Times and Inc42, which first reported the layoff. Startups in India face tough times ahead as the funding frenzy of 2021 comes to an end amid concerns of a recession in the US and a global economic slowdown. India’s startups are largely funded by foreign money. Unacademy, Cars24, and Meesho are some of the other well-known startups that have laid off large portions of their workforce in recent times. VenturEast, a venture capital firm, has fully exited Seclore, a data-centric security platform provider, as part of the startup’s latest funding round, the firm said in a press release. Seclore has raised $27 million in series C funding, led by Oquirrh Ventures and Origami Capital. VenturEast invested in the company at its seed and Series A stages. It now exits with a 17.5x return on its seed round. Seclore has now raised $46 million to date. Its customers include government and defence agencies and more than 500 global enterprises, including American Express, Applied Materials, ADM, Saudi Telecom, and ICICI group, according to the press release. Theme music courtesy Free Music & Sounds: https://soundcloud.com/freemusicandsounds