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SAIF Partners, Silicon Valley Bank Invest In One97 Communications
Sat, 04/07/2007 - 01:04 — Sahad P VOne97 Communications, a Delhi-based mobile value added services company, has secured series A financing from SAIF Partners and Silicon Valley Bank. The investment is estimated to be in the range of $8-10 million, mostly coming from SAIF and a minor share from SVB. (See ContentSutra for more details)
This is the first major investment in the company, which was founded in 2000 by a young Delhi College of Engineering graduate Vijay Shekhar Sharma. One97 is in the same space as OnMobile, and is probably one of only two companies owning servers in the telco's premises. One97 is not a content play but essentially the technology play in the value added space. This puts the company in a better shape than pure mobile content companies as far as revenue shares are concerned. OnMobile, if you recall, raised $30 million in second round funding from Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, and Polygon Investment Partners at a valuation of $200 million.
Vibhor Mehra, Principal, SAIF Partners, told VC Circle that they preferred a VAS technology company like One97 to content plays since their business models can get tricky squeezed in between telcos and media companies. No wonder there are was a competition among VCs for One97, which included every one like Matrix Partners India, and Kleiner Perkins / Sherpalo.
Some Past Investments Of SAIF Partners
This is great news. The mobile VAS technology space does not have too many players and yet it holds great potential as more cell cos move revenue over to value added services and offer new innovations to customers. It's the technology to drive the content that counts.
One97 is a pioneer in this space and deserves to get the funding so it can now swim with the big fish! Smart move for SAIF.
MRP