Franklin Templeton Investments in collaboration with technology services company Innova Solutions on Thursday inaugurated a Center of Innovation at Vizag in Andhra Pradesh that will focus on building core competencies in investment management data science.

This will be the company’s first facility in Vizag after Hyderabad, Chennai and Mumbai and was inaugurated by the Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.

In a statement, Jenny Johnson, president and chief operating officer, Franklin Templeton Investments, said, “Once fully operational, our Vizag centre will play a key role in the firm’s technology plans and this inauguration marks a new chapter in our relationship with India. The fintech centre will be modelled along the lines of our Hyderabad facility which serves as a global offshore support center for Franklin Templeton”.

The Vizag facility will serve as a Center of Innovation and one of the key tech hubs for Franklin Templeton Investments globally. The firm will look to leverage its strategic investment pool to invest in disruptive companies and launch vertical disruptors through a rapid development process where ‘concept to prototype to design/development’ will be nurtured in an expedient manner, the company said in its statement.