The Venture Intelligence Blog

Inbound M&A deal volumes surge by 30% in 2011

2012-01-26T16:51:00.000-08:00

The pace of outbound deals however was muted, reveals a Venture Intelligence studyForeign companies acquired majority stakes in 131 Indian companies during 2011, registering a 30% rise in such transactions as compared to the previous year, according to a study by Venture Intelligence, a research service focused on Private Equity and M&A transaction activity in India. Of these Inbound deals, there

AZB & Partners, E&Y Top League Tables for 2011

2012-01-26T16:45:00.000-08:00

Corporate law firm AZB & Partners and the Ernst & Young have topped the Venture Intelligence India League Tables for 2011. Ernst & Young – which advised a total of 93 qualifying transactions - topped the League Tables as the Most Active Transaction Advisor (both PE and M&A) for the year. Among legal advisors, AZB topped the tables in both the PE and M&A categories advising a total of 73 deals

Internet & Mobile in Focus at APEX’11 PE/VC Summit

2012-01-20T21:54:00.000-08:00

The Venture Intelligence APEX’12 Private Equity & Venture Capital Summit, scheduled for February 14 at Mumbai, is to feature a special panel discussion on the Internet & Mobile sector. Speakers on the panel, which will include a mix of Angel & VC investors, Entrepreneurs from the sector and Advisory Firms, will provide their outlook on investments in the sector for the next 3-5 years. Speakers

PE investments up 24% to over $10-B in 2011, but dip QoQ

2012-01-10T05:13:00.000-08:00

Private Equity firms invested $10,117 million over 441 deals in India during the 12 months ending December 2011, compared to $8,187 million across 362 deals during the previous year, according to analysis by Venture Intelligence, a research service focused on Private Equity and M&A activity. These figures - which include VC investments and exclude PE investments in Real Estate - take the total

ET NOW’s ‘Super Angels’ helps Fetise.com raise up to Rs. 25 Crores from Seedfund

2011-12-23T06:19:00.000-08:00

From the Press Release:ET NOW’s Super Angels, a special series on the ‘Starting Up’ show which provides a platform for start-ups to make pitches to Angel Investors, witnessed a Mumbai based start-up company – Fetise.com (Men’s Apparel e-commerce platform) raise capital up to Rs. 25 Crores from Seedfund, represented by Mahesh Murthy, one of the Super Angels on the show.On what attracted Seedfund

Deal Alert:Trinity Ventures, Nexus invest $5.3 M in database software firm ScaleArc

2011-12-23T03:24:00.000-08:00

Edited Extracts from the Press Release:ScaleArc , a Mumbai and Silicon Valley-based database infrastructure software maker founded by Varun Singh, former CTO of Web18, has secured a $5.33 million second round of financing. The round was led by Trinity Ventures with participation from existing investor Nexus Venture Partners. The new funds will accelerate geographic and staffing expansion to

Deal Alert- Accel Partners invests in Trivone Digital

2011-12-19T21:04:00.000-08:00

From the Press Release:Accel Partners has completed Series A investment in Trivone Digital a Bangalore-based new age digital media and content company.The funds will be utilised by Trivone towards meeting its working capital requirements as well as pushing growth through the inorganic route in the months ahead.“We are delighted to have Accel Partners on board and look forward to working closely

Kidswear retail gets serious

2011-12-18T19:53:00.000-08:00

Extract from the Business Today article:There is quite a crowd on the kids' wear bandwagon, and segmentation has stretched in the past year to include luxury. While Big Bazaar is among those that cater to the mass segment, Gini & Jony and Lilliput operate in the medium category. Homegrown brand Lilliput Kidswear, which started in 2003, has the early mover advantage, with 261 exclusive outlets and

"Focus on your 3Cs: Credibility, Cash Flow and Crew" – Rajeev Mecheri of Mecheri Smart Capital

2011-12-16T03:42:00.000-08:00

Cross-posting from the Venture Intelligence Entrevista series:Lessons from the Startup to Scale-up to Successful Sale of iMetrex Technologies, a building technologies and security venture catering to the Indian enterprise market - The Venture Intelligence TeamRajeev Mecheri, Managing Director, Mecheri Smart Capital (Bio & LinkedIn)Interview by Hari Krishnan of Venture Intelligence, followed by

"2012 to be poor for exits, good for investments"

2011-12-04T23:45:00.000-08:00

In an interview published in The Mint (in text and video formats), Vikram Utamsingh, Partner - Transactions and Restructuring & Private Equity Advisory, KPMG India, says that while the exit track record of India-dedicated PE funds has not been great in the last few years, things are likely to improve from here....results are going to be bad for a couple of years because the industry is holding on

"India’s entrepreneurial journey at least 5 yrs behind China’s"

2011-12-02T21:43:00.000-08:00

From the article in Forbes by Journalist Rebecca Fannin.India’s entrepreneurial journey is at least five years behind China’s path. There’s no Jack Ma or Robin Li in sight or a big-time IPO like Youku. India lacks the entrepreneurial buzz and fast pace of China tech clusters. Indian entrepreneurship has been led by grassroots efforts, and the government hasn’t always been venture friendly.If

Rob Chandra of Bessemer on E-Commerce Valuations

2011-11-30T20:48:00.000-08:00

Forbes has a video interview with BVP Partner Rob Chandra in which he talks about Internet and e-commerce company valuations. He also talks about the impact created by Internet companies including Chennai, India-based Bharatmatrimony.com in which BVP invested recently.Click Here for the accompanying Forbes article.Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity

Alok Mittal on the Happiest Minds Funding

2011-11-18T03:55:00.000-08:00

Startupcentral has an interview with Alok Mittal of Canaan Partners on the $45 million first round funding led by his firm for Wipro veteran and Mindtree Co-founder Ashok Soota's new IT Services venture.What do you find interesting about the business model?The business model draw for us (Canaan) was the outsourcing play. We already have a couple of portfolio companies (iYogi and UnitedLex) in

Deal Alert: Aditya Birla PE Invests Rs.95-Cr in telecom tech firm Alphion India

2011-11-14T23:55:00.000-08:00

From the Press Release:Aditya Birla Capital Advisors (ABCAP), the private equity arm of the Aditya Birla Financial Services Group (ABFSG), today announced an investment of Rs. 95 Crores from Aditya Birla Private Equity – Fund I in Alphion India Private Limited (AIPL). AIPL is the principal subsidiary of Princeton, USA based Alphion Corporation (Alphion).Alphion develops, manufactures and globally

Deal Alert:Ventureast invests Rs.25-Cr in meat processing firm VKS Farms

2011-11-11T04:35:00.000-08:00

Edited excerpts from the press release:Ventureast Life Fund, an early growth and growth stage fund focused on the food and agriculture, clean environment and healthcare delivery sectors, has invested Rs.25 crores in VKS Farms, a Coimbatore-based, integrated meat processing company. Shekhar Kundur, General Partner of Ventureast, joins the Board of VKS Farms. The funding will be utilized for

Profile of online vegetables delivery firm Veggiebazaar

2011-11-10T01:04:00.000-08:00

An extract from The Economic Times profile... His business model is simple: Veggibazaar.com takes orders online and delivers the very next day. This not only ensures freshness of the products—an essential feature of the company—but also means that he does not have to worry about bulk storage space and associated facilities, which is a huge saving.... Since its launch, Venkatesan has pumped

Naveen Tewari of InMobi on SoftBank and Ram Shriram

2011-11-09T23:57:00.000-08:00

Extract from The Economic Times profile of the mobile advertising company made famous by the recent $200 million investment that it attracted from SoftBank:On Raising Funds From Ram Shriram. There was a phase when credit cards of the entire founding team were used to just pay salaries! With little success in raising funds from sceptic Indian investors, I decided to take a flight to Silicon

The Bargain Hunter: Sun Pharma's Dilip Shanghvi

2011-11-09T23:33:00.000-08:00

From The Economic Times profileShanghvi has a conservative approach to doing business,with eyes firmly focused on cost and the bottom line. As bullish peers made ill-timed and expensive (in hindsight) acquisitions in western markets in the past decade, Shanghvi steered clear of bidding wars and oneupmanship. Instead he chose to buy distressed assets on the cheap with a view to turning them

"Entrepreneurship is all about getting the job done" - Raju Venkatraman of MEDALL

2011-11-05T06:47:00.000-07:00

Cross-posting from the Venture Intelligence Entrevista series:Interaction with Raju Venkatraman, Founder & CEO, MEDALL DiagnosticsInterview by Chandu Nair, Founder of Scope eKnowledge, followed by interaction with students and other entrepreneurs at the Department of Management Studies IIT-Madras on October 24, 2011.Highlights:The ability to "zoom in and zoom out"- As an entrepreneur, whenever

Profile of employability training firm Talent Bridge

2011-10-29T05:50:00.000-07:00

Smart CEO has profile on this company which focuses on making youth from Tier II and III cities more employment ready.After three years of research, the Graduate Certificate in Corporate Readiness (GCCR) is a copyrighted program from TalentBridge to help students from smaller towns prepare for interviews and a corporate career....The company conducted an online survey, which showed that 77 per

Off Topic (Slightly): Impact of Financialisation

2011-10-29T05:25:00.000-07:00

NPR's Planet Money has a very interesting podcast with Satyajit Das, a finance professional-turned-author, where he talks about the imbalances created by finance (and financial engineering) driving businesses, rather than the other way round. He provides a very graphic example from his career at an airline firm - which began to make more money by making bets on the price of oil than from

Super Angels Pitch: Box OS

2011-10-24T04:00:00.000-07:00

Data Highlight: Blackstone Lights Up Q3'11 Investing Over $500-M

2011-10-18T02:27:00.000-07:00

US-headquartered Private Equity firm Blackstone stepped on the gas on its India investments, committing to invest over half a billion dollars in just the three months ended September 2011, according to the Venture Intelligence quarterly Private Equity Roundup Reports. Overall, Private Equity firms invested about $2,249 million across 98 deals during the quarter (not including Real Estate

VC firms invest $217-M in Q3’11

2011-10-17T21:30:00.000-07:00

Venture Capital firms invested $217 million over 43 deals in India during the three months ending September 2011, according to a study by Venture Intelligence (http://www.ventureintelligence.in), a research service focused on Private Equity, Venture Capital and M&A transaction activity in India. These figures take the total VC investments in 2011 to $752 million across 136 transactions (compared

Deal Alert: Nexus Ventures invests $4-M in mobile apps developer Genwi

2011-10-11T23:11:00.000-07:00

From the Press Release:GENWI (http://genwi.com), the leader in cloud publishing platforms for Tablets and Smartphones, has raised $4 million in Series A funding in a round led by Nexus Venture Partners (http://nexusvp.com). GENWI’s existing investors,Inventus Capital Partners and Quest Venture Partners, also participated in the round, bringing GENWI’s lifetime funding to $5.1 million including

PE firms invest $2.25-B in Q3’11

2011-10-10T22:31:00.000-07:00

PE Investments in first 9 months of 2011 surpasses entire of 2010 as deal sizes grow significantlyPrivate Equity firms invested about $2,249 million across 98 deals during the quarter ended September 2011, according to a study by Venture Intelligence (http://www.ventureintelligence.in), a research service focused on Private Equity and M&A transaction activity in the country. The latest figures

"Who's Afraid Of Private Equity?"

2011-10-10T21:26:00.000-07:00

Extract from an article by Haigreve Khaitan of corporate law firm Khaitan & Co. in The Economic Times.Promoters may be able to assess investors' intentions from the manner of their treatment of anti-dilution rights that keep the investors' holding at a pre-agreed level. For example, if an investor holds 100 shares issued at Rs.100 per share, and the company makes a fresh round at Rs.50 per

Nexus-backed Gluster to be acquired by Red Hat for $136-M

2011-10-04T22:29:00.000-07:00

Edited excerpts from the Press Release:NYSE-listed Red Hat, Inc., the world's leading provider of open source solutions to the enterprise, has agreed to acquire privately held Gluster, Inc, a leading provider of scale-out, open source storage solutions for standardizing the management of unstructured data, for approximately $136 million in cash. As part of the transaction, Red Hat will also

"Mistakes to Avoid in PE Fund Raising"

2011-09-26T05:36:00.000-07:00

Extract from an Economic Times article by Manish Kanchan, Managing Director of SAGE Capital.Very often we see entrepreneurs consulting with well wishers, old-time chartered accountants or their loyal CFOs during the deal-making process. Usually this is the first time anybody is dealing with private equity transactions and are therefore completely out of their depths. Sometimes, they are also

Profile of Online Jeweley Retailer CaratLane

2011-09-26T05:26:00.000-07:00

Extract from The Economic Times profile of Carat-LaneOnline jewellery retail portal Carat-Lane aims to bypass the hiccups that have laid low a number of e-commerce players, by adopting a two-pronged strategy – building its own delivery network even as it increases the geographical footprint.... Sacheti, who co-founded the company with Srinivas Gopalan in 2008, expects to service more than 100

Super Angels Pitch: Meracareerguide.com

2011-09-21T22:10:00.000-07:00

Super Angels Pitch: Live Inbox

2011-09-21T22:03:00.000-07:00

Deal Alert: Franklin Templeton PE invests Rs.45-Cr in Symbiotec Pharma

2011-09-21T02:46:00.000-07:00

Edited excerpts from the Press Release:Franklin Templeton Private Equity Strategy, a private equity portfolio advised by Darby Asia Investors (India) Limited, has invested Rs 45 crore in Symbiotec Pharmalab Limited. Symbiotec is engaged in research, development, manufacturing and marketing of research based Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (“API”s) for corticosteroids and hormones. It has an

Profile of software products firm CustomerXPs

2011-09-16T00:52:00.000-07:00

Economic Times has a profile of the entrepreneurial story of Bangalore-based "Customer Experience Management" Software firm CustomerXPs.Though the team was in place, it took us over a year to develop the first sample. By January 2008, we started taking feedback from prospective clients and realised that the product was becoming very complex. That's when we started interacting with Sharad Hegde,

Off topic: Interaction with Constant Contact

2011-09-15T20:59:00.000-07:00

This post is for the benefit of (and comments from) fellow paid content publishers.Constant Contact, a web-based email newsletter/marketing service that we at Venture Intelligence have been using to send out our paid for Deal Digest Daily newsletters sent us the following message - out of the blue - yesterday:Response (Kristen D)Dear Arun,I am sorry to report that your account, login name: "

Can Indiagames leverage the Disney connection?

2011-09-13T21:43:00.000-07:00

Business Standard has an article on Indiagames' future under Walt Disney (which is in the process of taking over Indiagames' current parent, UTV) Today, Indiagames works with original equipment manufacturers (OEM) as well as telcos like Tata Docomo, Uninor, and Idea. Large accounts like Airtel and Vodafone have grown 24 per cent year-on-year in FY2011. App stores have also fuelled the firm’s

Starting Up @ MIT School of Business, Pune

2011-09-13T03:53:00.000-07:00

From the Press Release: Starting Up, ET NOW’s show on India's start-up ecosystem, with an objective to promote and generate awareness on entrepreneurship & entrepreneurial skills in India; visits the MIT School of Business to conduct a one day special workshop titled 'Starting Up @ MIT'. The entire session will be recorded by the MIT Team & the videos will then be uploaded onto their online

Deal Alert: Taurus Flexibles ties up with Spain based Cikautxo s. Coop

2011-09-11T02:39:00.000-07:00

From the press release:Taurus Flexibles have announced their strategic association with Spain based Cikautxo s. Coop and Mondragon S. Coop to augment the manufacturing of rubber and plastic hoses for the automotive segment for international and domestic markets. This tie-up is being achieved by the acquisition of 50% stake in Taurus’ wholly owned EOU subsidiary in Pune created from the transfer

Businessworld cover story on Venture Capital

2011-09-07T03:19:00.000-07:00

From the cover story profiling 7 leading VC firms: Helion Ventures, Nexus Ventures, IndoUS Ventures, IDG Ventures India, Accel India, Inventus Capital and Canaan Partners.During 2004-10, venture capitalists invested $3.96 billion in Indian startups. Another $621 million has been invested this year, according to Chennai-based research firm Venture Intelligence. There is an established line of VC

Naukri.com's Sanjeev Bikhchandani on the new e-commerce boom

2011-09-05T03:39:00.000-07:00

Extracts from the interview appearing in the latest issue of the Indian Angel Network's newsletter:As far as E-Commerce is concerned, it is becoming a big money game and you will see companies either succeed massively or blow up in style. What is somewhat worrisome is the tendency of some E-Commerce companies to scale up sales even if they are negative margin, the more you sell the more you lose.

ET Now's "Super Angels’ show: Countdown to the Grand Finale begins

2011-09-04T22:32:00.001-07:00

From the Press Release: ‘Super Angels’, the ongoing series on ET NOW’s Starting Up – the home for start-ups on Indian television, has successfully completed 14 episodes.14 start-ups have pitched in their business plans to 4 of India’s most influential investors, competing for a spot in the grand finale where the winner gets an opportunity to raise funds between Rs.50 Lakhs & Rs. 2 Crores live on

Data Highlight: Schneider Electric gets turned on by India

2011-09-04T21:57:00.000-07:00

Schneider Electric's June 2011 acquisition of a 74% stake in Luminous Power Technologies, the New Delhi-based provider of inverters, UPS and power storage systems, was the French electrical products maker's sixth Indian acquisition in the last 3 years. Schneider's aggressive moves in the Indian market is part of a general rise in inbound acquisitions by European companies. While US-based

SEBI Alternative Investment Fund Regulation 2011 – The Basiz Perspective

2011-09-02T22:02:00.000-07:00

The following is a note on the SEBI - Alternative Investment Fund Regulation 2011 (AIF) prepared by A V Seshadrinathan ("Sesh"), MD of leading fund accounting KPO Basiz. An Accounting and Tax perspective The proposed AIF regulation has clearly demonstrated, that High networth Individuals and Qualified investors in the country are sizeable, have the knowledge to take on risks and are well

International hotel chains target mid-market

2011-08-29T22:06:00.000-07:00

Extract from Business Today article A range of leading global hotel chains have planned massive investments in India's midmarket segment - or hotels with a room tariff of around $100 (Rs 4,500) per night in big Indian cities - in the next four years. Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, which owns brands like Le Meridien and Sheraton, intends to set up 100 hotels in India by 2015. It already

"Thought for Food"

2011-08-29T21:44:00.000-07:00

Business Today has an article on the aggressive expansion by MNC food services firms like Sodexho and Compass Group in India's food contract and support services sector. Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A deals in India. View free samples of Venture Intelligence newsletters and reports.

"A Stake In Everyman's Dreams"

2011-08-29T21:23:00.000-07:00

Business Today has a profile of Ventureast's Micro Equity Fund which invests in a variety of small businesses that don't get looked at by traditional VC investors. The fund has so far invested into companies like Akshara Print Forms Pvt. Ltd, a manufacturer of pre-printed business forms and stationery such; Murugesan Silver Casting Works, a manufacturer of jewellery based; Rex Miller Garments, a

"The good and the bad of IT firms listing in the US"

2011-08-25T23:46:00.000-07:00

Extracts from article by Sudheer Kuppam of Intel Capital in The Mint Investor frenzy around the anticipated future listing of other Internet category leaders, such as Groupon (deal-of-the-day site) and Facebook (social media), is at a level not seen since 2000. While some debate that this is a sign of a tech bubble, the fact remains that many of these business models have generated unprecedented

Profile of electronic security products firm Zicom

2011-08-25T23:00:00.000-07:00

Economic Times has a profile of the entrepreneurial journey of the founders of listed electronic security technology firm Zicom Security Systems here Arun Natarajan is the Founder & CEO of Venture Intelligence, the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A deals in India. View free samples of Venture Intelligence newsletters and reports. Email the author

Group Buying in Real Estate

2011-08-25T22:31:00.000-07:00

Extract from The Economic Times article Group buying is typically a good strategy, be it for travel deals or buying consumer durables, as it can help you get discounts ranging from 5% to 25%. More recently, companies such as Groffer.com and Home Buyers Combine (HBC) have taken the lead in extending this principle to real estate. ...Why do developers offer such attractive deals to group buying

Interview with KKR 's Sanjay Nayyar on mezz funding

2011-08-25T22:15:00.000-07:00

Extracts from the Economic Times interviewAs firms like Everstone and Goldman Sachs, or Apollo and ICICI get more active, we will see the growth of a mezzanine market. We in KKR are in no hurry and will focus on quality deals. There will be an increasing need for alternate capital and we see that even the government is relaxing norms to facilitate capital-raising. We have just had the new

Deal Alert: Multiples invests in drilling equipment firm Sara Sae

2011-08-25T02:25:00.000-07:00

Edited excerpts from the Press Release Multiples Private Equity has made an investment in Sara Sae Pvt. Ltd. (earlier know as NOV Sara), a Dehradun-based manufacturer of drilling equipment. The financing will be used for the buyout of the 76% held in the company by National Oilwell Varco (NOV) in the company and to fund its growth plans. Sara Sae will enter the oil field equipment services

Deal Alert: Nexus Ventures leads $12-M 2nd round funding for Druva Software

2011-08-24T00:54:00.000-07:00

Edited extracts from the Press Release: Enterprise laptop backup and retrieval software firm Druva has received $12 million in a Series B round of funding led by Nexus Venture Partners with participation from existing investor Sequoia Capital India. The funding will be used to expand both the product offering and sales and marketing in North America, EMEA and Asia Pacific. “As the explosion of

Super Angels Pitch: 1000Lookz

2011-08-15T22:28:00.000-07:00

Are Indian Ecommerce companies overvalued?

2011-08-10T05:23:00.000-07:00

Anand Lunia of Seedfund has an article touching upon this at StartupCentral.

New Fund Announcement: WestBridge Crossover Fund raises $500 million

2011-08-04T22:02:00.000-07:00

WestBridge Capital today announced that it has successfully raised a new $500 million investment fund, WestBridge Crossover Fund, LLC. The Fund has been fully subscribed and is not open to new investors.The new fund, a long-term investment vehicle, will invest in both public as well as later stage private companies. The WestBridge team’s four advisory principals – KP Balaraj, Sumir Chadha,

AZB & Partners, Ernst & Young, Avendus Top H1’ 2011 League Tables

2011-08-01T04:04:00.000-07:00

Corporate law firm AZB & Partners continues to top the Venture Intelligence India League Tables as the Most Active Legal Advisor for both Private Equity and M&A deals – advising a total of 51 transactions - in the first six months of 2011. Ernst & Young topped the Most Active Transaction Advisor Table under Private Equity and Avendus Capital topped as the Most Active Transaction Advisor under M&A

Super Angels Pitch: Fetise.com

2011-07-28T21:32:00.000-07:00

Deal Alert: StanChart PE invests $56-M in RJ Corp beverage unit

2011-07-19T03:30:00.000-07:00

From the Press Release:Varun Beverages (International) Limited (VBIL) has concluded a US$56 million private equity financing with Standard Chartered Private Equity Limited (SCPE). The funds would be used to accelerate VBIL’s growth in its beverages business in India and overseas. VBIL is promoted by the RJ Corp group which comprises diversified business interests ranging from beverages, fast

New Wave of Life Sciences Firms

2011-07-15T21:58:00.000-07:00

Economic Times has profiles of 3 new VC-backed Life sciences companies: Cellworks ResearchFOUNDED: 2005INVESTOR: Artiman VenturesACTIVITY: Drug discovery using a proprietary computer simulation platform to find new uses for old drugs in inflammation and cancerPOTENTIAL REVENUE STREAMS: Licensing drugs for development and marketing,selling its proprietary green chemistry technology to various

Profile of P2P Microlending enabler Micrograam

2011-07-15T21:34:00.000-07:00

Business Today has a profile of the latest Indian adaptation of the Kiva.org model that enables individuals lend to the poor.Micrograam, set up in February 2010 by Rangan Varadan, a former head of banking and capital market verticals at Infosys, has devised an innovative means of extending credit to the poor by creating a portal that brings investors and borrowers together, allowing them to work

Fund Manager Interview: Nainesh Jaisingh of StanChart Private Equity

2011-07-13T04:47:00.000-07:00

After focusing substantially on exits in 2010 (when it successfully exited its investments in Mahindra Finance and ABG Shipyard), StanChart PE has announced four new investments in the first half of 2011 (in GMR Airports, Bush Foods, Privi Organics and Innoventive Industries). Three of its other portfolio companies – Endurance Technologies, Powerica and Intergloble Technology - are on the IPO

Fund Manager Interview: Mohan Kumar of Norwest

2011-07-13T04:19:00.000-07:00

Venture Intelligence spoke to Mohan Kumar, Executive Director, Norwest Venture Partners India, on the firm’s recent investments in the VC segment. Kumar, who had earlier worked for over 18 years at companies like Motorola and Texas Instruments, has led NVP's recent investments into medical devices firm Perfint Healthcare, tablet PC-based education services firm iProf and China-headquartered

Fund Manager Interview: Vishakha Mulye of ICICI Venture

2011-07-13T04:01:00.000-07:00

Venture Intelligence recently spoke to Vishakha Mulye, Managing Director & CEO of ICICI Venture Funds, on the firm’s recent investments and strategy going ahead. This interview first appeared in the latest issue of the Venture Intelligence India Private Equity Roundup Report. Venture Intelligence: In 2011, you have announced two significant-sized investments – in restaurants chain Devyani

LP Interview: Sunil Gottipati of Princeton University

2011-07-13T03:30:00.000-07:00

Sunil Gottipati is a Principal with Princeton University Investment Company (Princo), the agency responsible for the management of Princeton University’s over $14 billion endowment. Venture Intelligence recently spoke to Gottipati who is active in managing the endowment’s allocations to Private Equity, including in emerging markets like India and China.This interview first appeared in the latest

PE firms continue to be bullish on Education investments

2011-07-12T23:20:00.000-07:00

As the only industry in which investments continued to growth through the 2008-09 downturn, Private Equity & Venture Capital investors continue to be bullish about investing in Education companies, reveals a new report – the second edition of “Private Equity Pulse on Education” - from research firm Venture Intelligence, the leading provider of data and analysis on PE/VC and M&A activity in India,

Deal Alert: Nexus Ventures-backed Cloud.com acquired by Citrix

2011-07-12T22:49:00.001-07:00

Citrix Systems has acquired Nexus Ventures-backed Cloud.com, an US-based provider of software infrastructure platforms for cloud providers. The company’s CloudStack product line helps providers deploy and manage simple, cost-effective cloud services that are scalable, secure and open. From the Venture Intelligence PE Deal database: Nexus first invested in Cloud.com (then called VMOps) in Aug 2009

Deal Alert: NSL Sugar acquires Jay Mahesh Sugar for Rs.231-Cr

2011-07-06T00:12:00.000-07:00

Edited excerpts from the Advisor's Press Release:NSL Sugars Limited, a part of the Nuziveedu Seeds group, has acquired 100% stake in Jay Mahesh Sugar Industries Limited (JMSIL), at an enterprise value of approximately Rs.231.2 crores. Prior to the transaction, JMSIL was a wholly owned subsidiary of Spray Engineering Devices Limited (SEDL), a specialist maker of sugar plant equipment. Anand Rathi

Super Angels Pitch: Vimagino

2011-07-04T06:43:00.000-07:00

Freshdesk, Reach 360 emerge winners at BizSpark Startup Challenge 2011

2011-06-27T21:24:00.000-07:00

Edited excerpts from the Press Release:Microsoft has announced the winners of the BizSpark Startup Challenge 2011. At an event that witnessed top 15 startups battling it out for the coveted prize, Freshdesk and Reach 360 emerged winners of the challenge. The two winners were rewarded with a grant of USD 40,000 and the runner-up teams; Zevenseas and Live Inbox got a grant of USD 10,000

Super Angels Pitch: CazBak

2011-06-27T05:40:00.000-07:00

Deal Alert: Fidelity to invest $15-M in K-12 education firm Mind Shaper

2011-06-24T06:52:00.000-07:00

Edited excerpts from the press release:Fidelity Growth Partners India (FGPI) is to invest up to $15M to acquire a significant minority stake in Mind Shaper Technologies Private Limited. Branded as Classteacher Learning Systems, the company is a pioneer in K-12 educational content in the country.The investment will be used to further the company’s product portfolio and strengthen Classteacher’s

Profile of social venture investor Omidyar Network

2011-06-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

From the Business Today profile of the philanthropic investment firm founded by Pierre Omidyar, founder of Internet company eBay.Unlike other philanthropic organisations, ON does not come with a project-centred approach. Rather, it enters with the intention of building institutions. The two main requirements are: the organisation should fit into the ON portfolio and be scalable.Swati Ramanathan,

Profile of cricket gear firm Sanspaereils Greelands

2011-06-22T05:48:00.000-07:00

From the Business Today profile of the 80+-year-old sports gear maker:The company's revenues - split almost 50-50 between exports and domestic sales - are growing at an annual rate of 25 per cent and expected to close this financial year at Rs 80 crore, up from Rs 60 crore last year. The share of exports has steadily gone down. "The proportion of exports to domestic sales was 55:45 last year, and

Why OTC Pharma is hot property

2011-06-22T05:12:00.000-07:00

From the Business Today article:"The consumer healthcare segment is growing at around 18 per cent, almost 1.5 times the rate at which the FMCG sector is growing," points out Nikhil Vora, Managing Director at brokerage house IDFCSSKI. Rising fees of medical professionals, an increasing penchant for self-medication, aggressive advertising and increasing faith in traditional medicinal systems like

Deal Alert: Rajasthan Venture acquires 30% stake in vocational education co Shree EduServe

2011-06-01T02:46:00.000-07:00

From the Press Release:Rajasthan Venture (RVCF) has taken about 30% stake in an early stage vocational training education company, Shree Eduserve Pvt Ltd., having over 65 centers across the country. Shree Eduserve Pvt. Ltd. , a fast growing company founded in 2006 , has been developing new generation products for better understanding and imparting quality education and vocational training.

Profile of Wonder Grass

2011-05-19T03:32:00.000-07:00

From the Economic Times profile of Bamboo-based building systems company, Wonder Grass:“Using bamboo to build structures is not rocket science. Bamboo is renewable, cost-effective and appropriate material to be used for housing segment. It is available in abundance in India,” said Vaibhav Kaley, co-founder of Wonder Grass, who started the firm along with his younger brother Nachiket Kaley in

The right recipe for a profitable speciality restaurant

2011-05-19T02:59:00.000-07:00

From the Mint articleThe choice of cuisine is equally critical. The cuisine hierarchy goes something like this—Indian, followed by Chinese and Italian. “Italian has broadened to include European and Chinese has grown to pan-Asian but the basic hierarchy remains the same,” says Raman Macker, whose company Dish Hospitality owns chains such as Tasty Tangles and Sancho’s, besides Aurus, in Mumbai....

Profile of Nopaperforms.com

2011-05-19T02:28:00.000-07:00

From the Business Today profile of the company which enables academic admission applications to go online:The catch is that those applying have to pay extra if they want the convenience of the online route. Most institutions charge for the paper application forms they distribute; the portal charges an additional 4.9 per cent - or Rs 30 whichever is higher - per form filled online....Anil Joshi at

In praise of Boutique I-Banks

2011-05-18T03:29:00.000-07:00

From the Economic Times article:These are the ones who left the suffocating process-driven culture at giant firms, such as Morgan, Merrill and Goldman. They build relationships with entrepreneurs for years and get to experiment with ideas. Know them, identify what they want, comfort them and say they could be a lot bigger than they are, with a banker's advice. Boutique banks, such as MAPE,

Opening at Venture Intelligence: Head – Research Services

2011-05-18T00:19:00.001-07:00

We are looking to hire a suitable candidate for the following position:Designation: Head – Research ServicesLocation: ChennaiReporting to: MD & CEORoles and Responsibilitieso High quality of research that enrich the Venture Intelligence product offerings- Provide hands-on leadership for a team of analysts to create and update financial transaction and valuation information in user-friendly

ET NOW launches ‘Super Angels’ Series

2011-05-11T00:29:00.000-07:00

Edited extracts from the Press Release:24-hr English business news channel ET NOW has launched ‘Super Angels’, a path breaking series which will witness start-ups raising funds on national television, for the first time. The show will feature 20 of India’s most innovative start-ups and 4 of India’s most influential investors along with a national audience who will choose India’s next ‘Super

Deal Alert: Financial software firm Agility raises $5.7 M from IDG Ventures, others

2011-05-03T06:03:00.000-07:00

From the press release:BFSI software products company, Agile Financial Technologies (www.agile-ft.com), announces the successful completion of its US$ 5.7mn Series A financing, led by IDG Ventures India (IDGVI). This funding will enable Agile Financial Technologies (Agile FT) to surge ahead with its organic and inorganic growth plans and expansion into new markets.With a rapidly growing footprint

The 'what's Doordarshan?' Generation

2011-04-29T23:46:00.000-07:00

Business Standard has an interview with Dheeraj Sinha, regional planning director, Bates 141 and author of Consumer India: Inside the Indian Mind and Wallet. In his book, Sinha puts Indian consumers into three segments: partition generation, transition generation and no-strings generation, and gives an account of what marketers and advertisers need to keep in mind to draw the attention of each of

New Fund Alert: Matrix Partners India closes $300-M 2nd fund

2011-04-29T05:54:00.001-07:00

From the Press Release:Matrix Partners India today announced it has closed a $300 million second fund. With the closing of this fund the firm has $600 million under management across two funds. The firm will continue to make early and growth stage investments up to $30 million in companies focused on the Indian domestic market in the internet/mobile, education, financial services, healthcare

Profile of aroma chemicals maker Privi Organics

2011-04-15T23:08:00.000-07:00

From the Times of India profile of the company which recently raised capital from StanChart Private Equity:Two years into the business and Privi had not yet created a sufficient client base, pushing it to the verge of shutting down. In 1994, its losses eroded its equity and the company's prime creditor, State Industrial & Investment Corporation Of Maharashtra (SICOM), served a notice to take over

VC Interview: Kanwal Rekhi of Inventus Capital

2011-04-14T06:27:00.000-07:00

LP Interview: Johanna Klein of ADB

2011-04-14T06:02:00.000-07:00

Venture Intelligence recently spoke to Johanna L. Klein, Investment Officer, Capital Markets and Financial Sectors Division of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), who is active in the multilateral development financial institution’s investments into private equity funds across Asian emerging markets.Venture Intelligence: What is ADB’s outlook on new Private Equity fund investments in India? Johanna

Investing Lessons from Indiana Jones

2011-04-14T05:52:00.000-07:00

In his latest blog post, "Super LP" Chris Douvos extracts lessons for investors from Indiana Jones quest for the Holy Grail (in the movie, The Last Crusade).This challenge is a warning that bad things can befall overconfident people. A mentor of mine once told me that a great analyst has no ego; one must be wary of confirmation bias and remember that big ideas often come from unexpected places.

Deal announcement: Allsec acquires Retreat Capital Management

2011-04-13T21:51:00.000-07:00

Technology Holdings' client, Allsec Technologies, has completed the acquisition of Retreat Capital Management, a full service mortgage BPO company headquartered in Irvine. Technology Holdings was the exclusive advisor on the transaction.Retreat Capital is an end-to-end provider of loss mitigation and portfolio management services for mortgage lenders, servicers, asset managers and investors.

Does the Headstong deal herald more IT-BPO consolidation?

2011-04-12T05:16:00.000-07:00

In the context of the recent acquisition of Capital Markets focused IT Services firm Headstrong by BPO giant Genpact, former Infy sales head Basab Pradhan, has an interesting post suggesting that the answer is yes.Genpact had to bulk up its IT Services business. IT Services offers both higher margin and higher growth. Both of which Genpact has not been able to deliver, at least to the

Press Release: CCCL CEO R Sarbeswar to deliver Entrepreneurship lecture at IIT-Madras

2011-04-11T01:27:00.000-07:00

Interactive lecture to feature as part of research firm Venture Intelligence’s “Entrevista” seriesVenture Intelligence, India’s leading research service focused on Private Equity/Venture Capital and M&A deal activity, has partnered with IIT Madras’ C-TIDES, to produce multimedia recordings of interactions with successful Indian entrepreneurs from across sectors. Branded as ‘Entrevisa’, the

PE investments vault to $3.3-B in Q1’ 11

2011-04-08T05:10:00.000-07:00

Amount invested more than doubles over previous quarter; Median Deal Size jumps to $14.5-MPrivate Equity firms invested about $3,296 million across 83 deals in India during the quarter ended March 2011, according to a study by Venture Intelligence (http://www.ventureintelligence.in), a research service focused on Private Equity and M&A transaction activity in the country. The amount invested

Rajasthan Ventures Invests Rs.15-Cr in PR Packagings

2011-04-08T03:58:00.000-07:00

Edited extracts from the press release:Jaipur-based venture capital firm Rajasthan Ventures (RVCF), through its Rs 150 crores SME Tech Fund, has invested Rs 15 crores in the second round of funding of PR Packagings Ltd.(PRP), a packaging company based in Faridabad. PRP produces high quality folding cartons including printed mono cartons, fluted boxes, pouches, brochures, leaflets etc. “PRP is

Deal Alert: StanChart PE invests Rs.110-Cr in Basmati Rice firm Bush Foods

2011-04-06T04:45:00.000-07:00

From the Press Release:Standard Chartered Private Equity (“SCPE”) has invested Rs 1,100 Million (approximately US $ 25 Million) in Bush Foods Overseas Private Limited (“BFL”), one of India’s leading Basmati rice companies. The funding will part finance the expansion of Bush Foods’s state of art fully automated manufacturing and processing facilities in Sonepat, Haryana and also support the

New Fund Alert: Bessemer Ventures to invest 25% of new $1.6 B fund in India

2011-04-01T21:51:00.000-07:00

From the Press Release:Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP), a global investment firm, has announced the closing of Bessemer Venture Partners VIII. BVP VIII is a $1.6 billion venture capital fund that will sustain the firm’s focus on investing in and partnering with innovative, high-growth companies across multiple industries and geographies. Alongside existing BVP limited partners, Bessemer

Profile of wireless home theater system firm Snap

2011-03-24T22:06:00.000-07:00

Business Today recently published a profile of Snap Networks, a Bangalore-based maker of an innovative wireless home theater audio system , which is is seeking to raise $3-5 million in venture funding.The sound system, branded Violet, consists of a set of five wireless speakers, a sub woofer, a transmitter, a micro controller and a remote control. But the coolness factor stands on two legs: one

When Venture Capital meets Agriculture

2011-03-24T21:02:00.001-07:00

Economic Times recently published an article on the various types of agri-businesses are increasingly attracting VC attention. In an accompanying piece, Sandeep Singhal and Manoj Gupta of Nexus Ventures, provided their outlook on the sector.The agriculture sector presents a tremendous opportunity, given its size and large-scale inefficiencies, but building a large company is not easy. It requires

Challenges facing Indian Infrastructure Investors

2011-03-24T06:51:00.000-07:00

Writing in the Business Standard, hedge fund manager Akash Prakash points out some of the India-specific challenges in investing into this sector.The reality is that the Indian infrastructure sector does not have the size, financial muscle and market clout to fund the infrastructure this country needs. While power projects may still go ahead, as we have 4-5 large power developers with a combined

Infrastructure Investing: Advantages and Pitfalls

2011-03-24T06:13:00.000-07:00

At a time when India- and Asia-focused infrastructure funds are being announced at a rapid clip, Jay A. Yoder, Partner and Head of Real Assets at fund-of-funds firm Altius Associates, provides an analysis of the advantages and downsides of this asset class in an article published in AltAssets. Extracts:The advantages Adding infrastructure to an existing portfolio can be expected to provide

Mushrooming of Mentors

2011-03-18T05:40:00.000-07:00

Deepak Srinath of Viedea has an interesting post on the subject:...the trend that has left me partly amused and partly concerned is the rapidly growing breed of entrepreneurs who are in the “business of mentoring and incubation”. I have interacted with many such “mentors” over the last few months and barring a few exceptions most have left me with the feeling that they do not have adequate