VCCircle

GPs Needed

I know about a new venture capital firm set to launch operations in India by end of the year. It intends to raise $150 million and will be based out of Bangalore. They will primarily invest in new media and technology space. They are looking for smart people who can join as GPs. Individuals or teams who are trying to set up a new fund can also look at partnering with them. If you have any names, drop a mail to sahad@vccircle.com

Singhi & Associates

Singhi & Associates is a Mumbai-based SME/Mid-market boutique investment banking and M&A advisory firm. It looks like the firm is expanding. The Economic Times has an advertisment from the firm looking to fill these positions.

1. COO – M&A Advisory/ Investment Banking

2. Head – Cross Border Transactions

3. Vice President – Head (Delhi)

4. Vice President – Head (Bangalore)

5. Vice President – Investment Banking

6. Vice President – Asset Reconstruction

7. Assistant Vice President – Investment Banking

8. Consultants – Industry Verticals (Pharma , Engineering & Infrastructure, Textiles & Apparels, Telecom, IT/ ITES, Retail, Hospitality etc.)

Details are here. Interested candidates can apply to jobs@singhi.com

WestBridge Capital Partners already enjoys a cosy relationship with Silicon Valley's bluechip VC firm Sequoia Capital. WestBridge had co-invested with Sequoia in Bharti Telesoft and in Mauj Telecom too. So all that was some informal arrangement with Sequoia. WestBridge was acting like a guide for Sequioa in Indian market. Now it seems the relationship may take some formal turn.

The Economic Times reports (but yet to be endorsed by the firms invloved) that WestBridge may launch an India-dedicated fund or direct some of Sequoia’s existing funds for investment in India. It further says if a new fund is raised specifically for India, Westbridge’s existing founders and management team may become its General Partners. On the other hand, if an existing fund of Sequoia is given to manage, Westbridge may command management fees, ET reports quoting source.

WestBridge already has $350 million under management. The firm is also believed to be talking to another venture fund Greylock Venture Partners for their India investments. In any case, Sequoia definitely needs help in India. I am not sure if WestBridge would go in for another India dedicated fund with them or if it wants to manage the fund for Sequoia. Either way, WestBridge may need people. It currently has four partners, and another four senior execs at VP level or so. Former Bharti mobile content executive Mohit Bhatnagar is also tipped to join.

Indium, Chennai-based provider of software testing solutions, said it has secured $1 million funding from IRIS Capital for its technology upgradation and market expansion programme. The fund would be used to set up two centres of excellence, one for wireless/network data and another for enterprise applications, Indium CEO N Raghunathan said.

The company currently has revenues of $1 million. [Via CIOL]

Infosys Technologies announced it would buy the entire 23 per cent stake of Citicorp International Finance Corporation in its business process outsourcing arm Progeon for $115.13 million (Rs 518 crore). It's an all cash deal and would be completed by July this year. This deal values Progeon at around $500 million (Rs 2,250 crore). Progeon was started in 2002 with $20 million venture funding from Citigroup. This gives Citi a 5.7 times return in four years.

For FY06, Progeon posted revenues of $85 million (Rs 382 cr) and Infosys provided a guidance of $125 million (Rs 562 cr) for FY07. The enterprise valuation of Progeon is a four-times multiple of its FY07 revenue guidance. Progeon is the country’s 10th-largest third-party BPO firm as per the last Nasscom ranking for 2004-05, having over 7,000 employees. It is mainly in the non-voice business, constituting around 80 per cent.

Vinod Dham's NewPath Ventures is looking to raise a new fund 0f $200-300 million and would be mainly investing in Indian companies. The fund raising will be complete this year. The firm, which has already funded companies like Telsima and Insilca, will look at investing in product as well as service space from this fund.

Dham also said that he is looking for second round of funding for Telsima. [Via The Economic Times]

Norwest Venture Partners has raised a new fund of $650 million mainly targeting investments in India, Israel and the US. In India, the fund will basically target online and mobile companies. With this fund, NVP has more than $2.5 billion under its management. This is the tenth fund of NVP, and follows the $400 million NVP IX Fund that closed in late 2001.

"This fund will enable NVP to enter a new phase of growth. The size of NVP X is a testament to our belief in the potential of emerging markets in US and India," NVP managing partner Promod Haque (right) said.

The other key decisions are that NVP has promoted Robert Abbott, Jeffrey Crowe, Vab Goel, Jim Lussier and Venkat Mohan to the position of general partner.

VentureWire reports: Norwest partners have been travelling to India every couple months to establish strong ties in various industries and in the entrepreneur community. The firm also recently made a few investments in companies based in India for the first time. It previously backed businesses with presence in India, but not based there...Due to its global focus, the new fund is more than 50% bigger than Fund IX, which raised $400 million in 2001. But even while obviously stressing the global push, Norwest is not being definite on either the number of deals it will pursue nor the time its team will dedicate to foreign deals.

"What we don't want is to have someone dedicated to solely doing a deal in China or India or wherever, and then they're all by themselves," said Haque. The firm will probably hire full time staff in India eventually, Haque said, but for now the partners will lay the groundwork themselves. [Source: Press release; Via ContentSutra]

A US venture capital fund Lightspeed Venture Partners is getting their act together in India. It plans to invest $50-100 million in the Indian technology sector. The fund recently raised a $500 million fund, and about 10-20 per cent of it's likely to flow to India. "We have recently mopped up $0.5 billion through a new fund and we plan to invest part of it ($ 50-100 mn), in Indian IT companies providing services outside the country. The company would start talking to entrepreneurs for investment from May this year," Lightspeed Venture Partner Ajit Deora told The Hindu Business Line.

Lightspeed has already invested over $800 million in more than 100 technology companies in various countries like the US, Israel and China (click for portfolio). How does it plan to invest? It may look at direct route and also co-investing with other US-based VCs who already have investments in india. The fund will invest in early-to-mid-to-late stage companies.

Deora, who focuses on investment activities in India, is an operational-man-turned-VC. He was previously CEO of enKoo (acquired by SonicWall), prior to which he founded Beachhead Capital, an angel investment fund. He has been involved in several startups.

One of the founding General Partners of Lightspeed is an Indian, Ravi Mhatre. [Via Sify.com].

Thanks Ramesh (PD Software) for the link.

Hong Kong-based SAIF Partners plans to expand its investment scope in India. The firm, which has already invested $100 million in the country, is looking at auto components and media sectors closely. It is currently raising its third fund of $800 million, and a 30 per cent of it's likely to be invested in India, Ravi Adusumalli, General Partner, SAIF Partners, told The Hindu Business Line.

He further added that they would invest about 20 per cent from their second fund (of $650 million) in India. SAIF Partners' third fund will be operational by the next year. This means SAIF would be investing about $370 million in India in the next three or four years.

SAIF is also on the verge of closing a JV deal with a media company "to invest in a new line of business related to the electronic media". This deal could be in the range of $30 million. [Via The Hindu Business Line]

Related:

"We Like Strong Management Teams And Who Are Fiscally Responsible"

SoftBank Asia Infrastructure Fund Invests $2.5 Million In Cybernet Software Systems

SoftBank Asia Infrastructure Fund To invest $100-150 Million In India

Softbank Asia Infrastructure Fund Looking At Broadcast Space

It's not just Vinod Khosla who has turned green at Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers. John Doerr too has. Kleiner Perkins, based in Menlo Park, California, plans to set aside $100 million of its latest $600 million fund for technologies that help provide cleaner energy, transportation, air and water. This is besides $50 million Kleiner Perkins had already invested in seven greentech ventures. Says Doerr:

"This field of greentech could be the largest economic opportunity of the 21st century. There's never been a better time than now to start or accelerate a greentech venture."

So it's going to be the age of cleantech. [Via Wired News]

Pune-based Persistent Systems, an outsourced product development outfit recently funded by US-based venture funds Norwest Venture Partners and Gabriel Venture Partners, will go in for an IPO in a year's time. It's likely to raise some $30-50 million (Rs 200-250 crore) through its public float expected in April 2007. Norwest and Gabriel had invested $18.8 million (Rs 86 crore) in Persistent in December 2005.

"In India we can go public with $15 million. Because not a lot of capital is otherwise available, the IPO route is favoured and that is why you see 4-5 IPOs every month. There are also lower compliance costs and fewer liabilities with CEOs and CFOs in India compared with the US,’’ says Navin Chaddha of Gabriel Venture Capital.

Chaddha also says they are looking at early stage companies - especially in consumer end of the telecom, auto component, financial services, travel or retail sector. [Via Indian Express]