VCCircle

US venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates has announced that it will invest $200 million in Indian technology sector. The fund has appointed Ben Mathias as Vice President of the Indian operations - under the entity New Enterprise Associates (India) Pvt. Ltd. Mathias will work closely with NEA’s US-based technology team. NEA has $8.5 billion in committed capital across 13 funds.

“We have been selectively investing in India for many years and believe the country offers an attractive environment for venture investing,” said Peter Barris, NEA Managing General Partner. The fund has investments in Sasken Communications, Telsima, Nevis Networks, Protostar, InSilica and GlobalLogic. NEA also has 20 per cent stake in NEA-IndoUS Ventures, an early venture capital fund started by Vinod Dham and Vani Kola. NEA will invest in early-stage IT investments indirectly through NEA-IndoUS Ventures. NEA’s direct investments will be primarily in mid to late-stage opportunities.

“NEA’s focus in India will be on expanding its investment portfolio, while making returns on our initial investments. We look forward to working with India’s best and brightest entrepreneurs in telecom, media, alternative energy, technology-enabled services and infrastructure,” said Krishna “Kittu” Kolluri, General Partner. “Our US-based team which also includes Mark Perry and Ravi Viswanathan, will be consulting with Ben Mathias (head of Indian ops) to identify opportunities..."