The Venture Intelligence Blog

SEBI will prescribe requirements for angel investor pools by which they can be recognised as Category I AIF venture capital funds Venture Capital Funds have been allowed pass through status under the Income Tax Act. The relevant regulations of SEBI would be replaced by Alternative Investment Fund Regulations. The ‘pass through status’ has been extended to category I Alternative Investment Funds registered with SEBI as venture capital funds. Angel investors who are recognised as category I AIF venture capital funds will also get pass through status.  Source: Startup Central Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations of Private Companies in the country. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.

The funds provided to technology incubators located within academic institutions and approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology or Ministry of MSME will now qualify as CSR expenditure. The new Companies Bill obliges companies to spend 2% of average net profits under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).  Source: Startup Central Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations of Private Companies in the country. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.

Gaurav Saraf of Epiphany Ventures has a post in StartupCentral guiding founders to solutions to getting around the current crunch for "Series A" (first round of VC investments).   Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations of Private Companies in the country. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.

Sumanth Raghavendra , serial/parallel entrepreneur (currently founder of Q-Prize winner Deck App Technologies and Live Inbox and previously founder of Sabeer Bhatia- and SoftBank-funded InstaColl), has a great post on what should really count for "traction" - especially when it comes to seed financing.                      If it boggles your mind as to how a company with just three employees (the other two are founders) and which spends nothing on marketing can be unprofitable despite several thousand customers, join the club! The answer lies in the subtle sleight-of-hand: the plans offered by the company include a plan that is completely free, so the vast majority of “customers” are those who don’t pay a dime. They are therefore customers only in the loosest sense of the word. Everyone from angel investors to seed funds to accelerators are shouting from the rooftops that “traction trump...

New Delhi-based listed Network18 Group is to divest its premier local search businesses Infomedia Yellow Pages and AskMe to GETIT Infoservices Pvt. Ltd., a digital marketing company offering a platform for local search, classifieds, micro communities, deals, etc. The combined operations of GETIT will be referred to as “Getit Infomedia”. Earlier during the current financial year, Network18 had partially diluted its stake in Bookmyshow.com. It had also recently divested its entire stake in Newsire18. From the Venture Intelligence PE Deal database: In September 2008, Helion Ventures had invested $4.32 million in Getit Infoservices.  Source: Press Release   Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations of Private Companies in the country. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Mo...

Startup accelerator GSF has announced the launch of its fourth location and investment cycle in Chennai, starting April 2013. GSF will be selecting four most promising companies in Tamil Nadu for its 9-week acceleration program. Each selected company will receive initial funding of $28,000 and the support from GSF’s angel network. Teaming up with GSF will be Bharatmatrimony.com and Chennai Angels, who will provide the selected startups with mentorship, co-location space and related services. Source: NextBigWhat Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations of Private Companies in the country. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.

Medfort Hospitals, which specialises in eye care and diabetes care, is squaring up for its next round of private equity fund infusion. The chain led by Dr G S K Velu, is understood to be in talks to raise as much as $30 million through the PE route. Medfort has presence in New Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and is looking to expand into a pan-India chain both organically and inorganically.  Medfort Hospitals had earlier seen two rounds of private equity infusion from TVS Shriram Growth Fund and ePlanet Ventures. Dr Velu recently raised $100 million from Fidelity Partners for his medical equipment business — Trivitron Healthcare, which provided exit for ePlanet Ventures.  Source: Business Standard   Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations of Private Companies in the country. Click Here to view our products list including...

Frontier Lifeline Hospitals is in talks with foreign institutions to raise about Rs.500 crore for setting up Frontier Mediville, India's first medical science park. The funds will be used to complete the second phase of Mediville. At present, holds 11% in the project.  The Rs.1,000-crore Frontier Mediville is spread over 360 acres and located 40 km away from Chennai at Elavur village in Tiruvallur district. The promoter and his family own 73% of the shares. Another 16% stake is with the Technology Development Board of the department of science and technology. Rajasthan Venture Capital Fund (RVCF) holds 11% stake.  Source: Business Standard Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations of Private Companies in the country. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Tran...

IvyCap Ventures has invested in Reuters Market Light (RML), an information service created by Thomson Reuters targeted at India's farming community. IvyCap will now become the lead investor in RML with Thomson Reuters remaining as a shareholder and partner in the newly formed RML Information Services Private Limited. Source: Reuters   Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations of Private Companies in the country. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.

Publicly-listed New Delhi-based Info Edge (India), which runs jobs site Naukri.com and other online services, has invested an additional amount of about Rs.30 crore in Applect Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd., which is engaged in online education and assessment business through it website www.meritnation.com. Post this investment, the aggregate amount invested would be about Rs.61.5 crore for a 54% stake in Applect Learning.  Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations of Private Companies in the country. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.

Apurva Wadhera-founded online book trading portal BucketBolt is looking to raise funding. The Mumbai-based company had graduated from the accelerator program at Gurgaon-based GSF Accelerators last year.  Source: Economic Times Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations of Private Companies in the country. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.

Aurangabad-based R J Bio-tech has filed for DRHP to issue 25,02,000 equity shares at Rs.20 per share aggregating to Rs.50 crore, constituting 26.43% of the post issue paid up equity share capital of the company. Sarthi Capital Advisors is the lead manager to the issue. The company will be traded on the BSE-SME exchange. R J Biotech Ltd. is a group company of R J Group which is engaged in diverse agro related activities. Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations of Private Companies in the country. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.

Bollywood actor Madhuri Dixit and her husband Shriram Nene have unveiled online dance academy, Dance with Madhuri, to tap into an unexplored market by making the most of Madhuri's brand equity. The online dance academy will allow the viewer to learn dance in an interactive and social atmosphere.  Source: Economic Times Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations of Private Companies in the country. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.

Tata Elxsi and Get2Volume are to partner to incubate and grow technology companies in India and Singapore. Design company Tata Elxsi recently launched incub@TE, an incubation centre program to nurture and support aspiring entrepreneurs. Get2volume, based in Singapore and with funding from the Singapore’s National Research Foundation, invests in, mentors and helps grow innovative microelectronics-centric companies. Tata Elxsi and G2V have agreed to extend their incubation offerings and connections to each other’s portfolio companies.  Source: Business Line Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations of Private Companies in the country. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.

CIIE, IIM Ahmedabad’s startup incubation arm, and Village Capital have teamed up to launch an acceleration program for startups focused on technology for impact. The accelerator will focus on for-profit, commercially scalable Indian startups that display a high level of social value in their technology driven or technology enabled offerings. Sectors it will look at include mobile/ICT, health, agribusiness, education, sustainability and livelihood solutions verticals.  Throughout the program, participating entrepreneurs will assess one another, and the two top-ranked startups will receive up to $50,000 each in investment.The program places a heavy emphasis on peer mentoring and peer selection of the best ventures within the program. The program starts April 11, 2013, with the first of three four-day workshops being held at CIIE’s facilities at IIM Ahmedabad.  Source: Startup Central Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equi...

Former SeventyMM CEO Mudit Khosla has been appointed as the CEO of Tradus.com, the online marketplace operated by Naspers and Tencent -owned Ibibo Group (MIH India).Khosla had stepped down as the SeventyMM CEO last month, after a three year stint with the company.  Prior to this, Khosla was one of the founding members of the online travel agent Yatra.com. Source: Medianama   Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations of Private Companies in the country. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.

SIDBI Venture Capital Ltd will invest about Rs.10 crore in Pune-based Mitcon Consultancy and Engineering Services Ltd when the firm launches an initial public offer (IPO) in March to raise Rs.25 crore.  SIDBI VC will invest through a pre-placement process in Mitcon, which conducts environmental impact assessments for clients as well as procure clearances from the environment ministry. It is promoted by ICICI Bank Ltd, IFCI Ltd and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and earned a revenue of Rs.60 crore in 2011-2012.  Source: Mint   Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations of Private Companies in the country. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.

Media and publishing firm Pearson has acquired the remaining 20% stake in TutorVista. It now completes 100% ownership in the Bangalore-based learning services company.  In 2011 Pearson acquired 80% stake in the then five-year-old TutorVista for Rs.577 crore, valuing it at around Rs.1,000 crore. As per the agreemen, promoter Ganesh had to sell the balance 20% in a maximum period of three years which he has now done, in two years. Srikanth B Iyer, the chief operating officer of Pearson Education Services, formerly known as Edurite Technologies has been named as new CEO of TutorVista.  TutorVista has 1,300 employees across online tutoring, school management, Information and communications technology and test preparation and tuition.  Source: Business Line , Economic Times Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations of Private C...

Multi-stage venture capital investor SAIF Partners, in a move to engage more closely with early stage companies, has launched an initiative called SAIF Doubleclick. The initiative involves inviting 15-20 startups to its offices to brainstorm on specific execution challenges. The firm had organized one such meetup informally at its Delhi offices a couple of months ago and has now formalized the initiative. The next such meetup comes up on March 1 and will focus on B2B sales. The meetup will be held at the firm’s Gurgaon offices.  Source: StartupCentral.in   Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations of Private Companies in the country. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.

Publicly-listed New Delhi-based Info Edge (India), which runs jobs site Naukri.com and other online services, has invested an additional amount of about Rs.55 crore in shares of Zomato Media Pvt. Ltd ., an online food guide and restaurant directory website. Post this investment, the aggregate amount invested would be about Rs.86 crore for a 57.9% stake in Zomato Media.  Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations of Private Companies in the country. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.

Globsyn Technologies, the Kolkata-headquartered group with interests in software technology, knowledge and education, skills development and IT infrastructure, is in talks with a number of leading private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) funds for introducing what it calls ‘structured financing’ into Bengali and other regional movies and putting up a full scale, state-of-the-art studio facility.  The company is also keeping a separate provisioning from its own coffer to finance two to three such movies per year, to start with.  Source: Financial Chronicle   Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations of Private Companies in the country. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.

Stemcell banking firm LifeCell International Pvt Ltd has raised around Rs.35 crore from Helion Venture Partners, diluting a minority stake in the company. The fund would be used towards increasing market penetration of stem cell banking and to develop novel cell based therapies, for which the company is also looking for a partner. LifeCell has so far serviced over 65,000 clients across 110 locations in India and abroad. Following the fund infusion, Kanwaljit Singh, senior managing director at Helion Advisors, would join the board of LifeCell International.  Source: Business Standard   Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations of Private Companies in the country. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.

Anand Lunia founded angel fund, India Quotient has invested in DogSpot , a pet-related portal where one can find everything related to dogs. DogSpot was founded in 2007 by Rana Atheya along with wife Vizal Atheya. India Quotient makes investment rounds south of $500k.  DogSpot was seed funded by Vikas Saxena, Global CEO Nimbuzz, Vaibhav Gadodia, VP Tech Nagarro and Ritesh Chauhan, Telecom Consultant. It received one more round from Early Stage Angels: Tanjai Ventures and Kibo Partners together. DogSpot has delivered 15000 orders in more than 950 cities across India.  Source: Yourstory.in Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations of Private Companies in the country. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.

Bangalore-based Pilani Soft Labs, which runs online bus ticket booking portal redBus.in, is looking at raising $20 million through the PE route. The company, started by three BITS Pilani graduates in 2005, could be planning to aggressively scale up its business. It had raised $6.5 million in Series-C funding in May 2011 from Helion Venture Partners, SeedFund and Inventus Capital Partners. On an annualized basis, the company has a gross merchandise value of Rs.600 crore, on which it makes revenues of Rs.60 crore and is expected to post a net profit of close to Rs.2 crore for FY13.   From the Venture Intelligence PE Deal database: RedBus had raised $0.68 M in Jul-07 from Seedfund, $2.28 M in Jun-09 from Helion, Seedfund and Inventus Capital, $0.74 in May-08 from Seedfund, and $6-M in Mar-11 from Helion, Inventus and Seedfund. Source: Business Standard   Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M...

Kolkata-based GCM Securities has filed for DRHP to issue 60,90,000 equity shares at Rs.20 per share aggregating to Rs.12.18 crore forming 32.07% of the post issue paid up equity share capital of the company. Inventure Merchant Banker Services is the lead manager to the issue. The company will be traded on the BSE-SME exchange.  The company is engaged in stock broking activities and is one of the group company of Global Capital Market & Infrastructures Ltd., which is listed on the BSE and the CSE.  Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations of Private Companies in the country. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.

Mumbai-based Ashapura Intimates Fashion Ltd ., which runs the brands Valentine, N-Line and Night & Day, has filed for DRHP to issue 52,50,000 equity shares at Rs.40 per share aggregating to Rs.21 crore, forming 26.97% of the post issue paid up equity share capital of the company. KJMC Corporate Advisors is the lead manager to the issue.  The company will be traded on the BSE-SME exchange. The company is in the business of designing, trading, job contract manufacturing, branding, marketing and selling of intimate garments. It is planning to expand its product portfolio and also foray into kids' innerwear having cartoon characters.  Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations of Private Companies in the country. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transaction...

A team of healthcare entrepreneurs led by Pradeep Jaisingh has launched an incubator called HealthStart. The incubator will have a multi-city model and invest up to Rs.60 lakh for a 7-10% stake in the companies that it will take under its wing. The team includes Pradeep Jaisingh, the founder chairman of HealthStart, apart from Raj Airy, a former head of Baxter India, who co-founded a healthcare venture Wizzcare which offers personalized healthcare services at home.  With another four founding members also on board, Healthstart aims to begin investing from an internal corpus in the first year. The incubator has received eight proposals within days of starting up underscoring a growing appetite for early stage funding in India.  The HealthStart founding team also includes Vivek Jetley, CEO of Urbana Health, a Singapore-based business advisory service, Anil P Gupta, who earlier led Reliance Infrastructure and Honeywell International in India, and Suhail Chander, who lea...

Access India Fund and its co-investors have closed the first tranche of a US$ 11.5 Mn investment in Nobel Hygiene Limited.  About Nobel Hygiene Limited   Nobel Hygiene Limited (www.nobelhygiene.com), is a market leader in the manufacture and sales of adult diapers (with an estimated market share of 40%) through its brand “Friends”. It also manufactures and markets baby diapers, a segment which has seen greater than 50% segment growth over the last 5 years. Nobel was promoted by a first generation entrepreneur, Mr Kamal Johari, a science graduate and a chartered accountant by qualification. The investment will be used to double Nobel’s existing manufacturing capacity.  The Indian adult diaper market, at US$ 30 Mn, is a sunrise segment with growth rate of over 25% p.a. The segment has potential to grow into a significantly large FMCG category with India having the second largest 65+ year’s population in the world. Nobel‘s adult diaper brand is the only brand...

Capital market regulator SEBI is looking to make it easier for small companies to list on the dedicated SME platforms of stock exchanges, by relaxing certain criteria such as on underwriting and market making. The regulator wants the platform to be more cost-efficient for issuers. It also wants to bring down the obligation on investment bankers (i-bankers) to attract more participants in this space.  The underwriting obligation for SME IPOs could be removed. However, issues won’t be able to go through if they failed to garner a minimum of 90% subscription. SEBI is also mulling whether the market making requirement could be brought down from three years to about a year.  The regulator could also prescribe a lower dilution requirement for promoters. Under the current norms, issuers have to dilute a minimum of 25% equity through SME IPOs. SEBI might also consider the pre-issue shareholding of PE and VC investors as public holding as long as it isn’t “promoter holding in...

Vellvette Lifestyle , a Mumbai-based startup that launched subscription-based beauty products ecommerce platform Vellvette last year, has raised an angel round of funding from India Quotient (IQ) and angel investors Nitin Agarwal and Siddharth Ladsariya. The deal size is estimated at $300,000. Targeted at women, Vellvette’s founders are Vineeta Singh and Kaushik Mukherjee. Singh is an IIM-Ahmedabad and IIT-Madras alumnus and was earlier a director at Quetzal Verify. Mukherjee, also an almunus of IIM-Ahmedabad and BITS-Pilani, was earlier with McKinsey & Co and Goldman Sachs. The company works in partnership with brands to select three products that are exclusively customized for each customer and send them in a luxury box to her doorstep every month. It also advises customers on how to make the best use of these products and keep them abreast of the latest beauty and fashion trends and insider know-how through its online magazine.  Source: Startup Central   ...

Click Here for more APEX'13 Awards photos Mumbai, India, February 13, 2013: Standard Chartered Private Equity, Motilal Oswal Private Equity, Nexus Venture Partners and Kotak Realty Funds were adjudged the leading investors in the Private Equity, Growth Capital, Venture Capital and Private Equity in Real Estate segments respectively during 2012. The awards were given away as part of the Venture Intelligence “Awards for Private Equity Excellence” (APEX) at APEX’13, the annual conclave of the Indian Private Equity & Venture Capital industry, by Dr.Subir Gokarn, Noted Economist & Former Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India and Mr. Ashish Chauhan, CEO, Bombay Stock Exchange . Accepting the “Best Private Equity Investor-2012” Award, Nainesh Jaisingh, Managing Director & Global Co-Head, StanChart Private Equity said, "We see this award as recognition of our disciplined approach to investing. StanChart PE continues to remain positive on the opportunities pres...

From a Businessworld  article: The assistants at the kiosk walk consumers through the process of shopping online, availing exciting discounts and buying products. Since its launch on 21 December, the pop-up store has already spiked new shoppers on its website by 70 per cent. “The idea was to get feedback on the products, brands, price points directly from the consumer,” says Sujal Shah, CEO and co-founder of Freecultr.  The pop-up trend for etailers started early last year, and has picked up pace over the months with increasing success. Brands use these temporary spaces in malls to engage with their customers and establish an interest in their products. “Pop-up stores create a touch-point for a business that is largely impersonal. They provide customers a sense of gratification that helps them in their purchasing decisions,” explains Chaitanya Aggarwal, founder-CEO of Juvalia & You India. Since it launched in India last year, Berlin-based jewellery etailer Juva...

Seedfund has acquired a significant minority stake in Bangalore-based online-offline commerce venture Chumbak . The investment was made around six months ago.  Chumbak is focused on the souvenir and gift market, with unique designs and merchandise. It retails quirky designer t-shirts, boxer shorts, iphone cases, coin pouches, bags, keychains, etc. It retails in 16 cities in India and also in Japan, in partnership with Amina’s Cayhane stores. Source: Medianama Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations of Private Companies in the country. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.

Vuclip, a Milpitas, US-based independent mobile video and media company, has acquired the core assets of Jigsee , a Canadian mobile video streaming company. The core assets are expected to bring to Vuclip mobile app development talent, as well as additional proprietary video streaming technologies.   From the Venture Intelligence PE Deal database: The Indian Angel Network and Rehan yar Khan had invested in Jigsee in Feb-11.  Source: Press Release Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations of Private Companies in the country. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.

Chennai-based online retailer of Indian ethnic wear, Cbazaar , is planning second round of fundraising to drive expansion. Net Avenue Technologies Pvt Ltd that runs the portal is planning to go for Series B (second round of funding) in the next few months and working on a business plan for it. The second round of funds being raised will be used to drive expansion; the first was invested in technology, infrastructure upgradation and brand-building activities.  Cbazaar raised $3.5 million from Ojas Venture Partners and Inventus Capital Partners in April last year.  Source: Deccan Herald Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations of Private Companies in the country. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.

Online music streaming site Dhingana.com has appointed Rohit Bhatia as its new Chief Executive Officer. Bhatia will be responsible for Dhingana’s tie ups with Indian mobile operators and labels and will be based in India, unlike the erstwhile CEO and co-founder Snehal Shinde (who is now CTO) who was based out of the US.  Bhatia served at Ericsson as BSS Practice Leader, prior to joining Dhingana. He has also served as Seamless AB as CEO for about five years. Apart from that, he has worked at ACL Wireless as Advisor to the board, at SmartTrust AB as a Director Marketing & Business Development, at Bharti Televentures Ltd as a General Manager – VAS/ Data and at Ericsson as a Senior Business Manager – Mobile Internet for APAC region. From the Venture Intelligence PE Deal database: Dhingana had raised its first round in Nov-11 from Inventus Capital and had attracted Helion Venutres and Lightspeed Ventures to its $7-M second round in Oct-12  Source: Medianama ...

The government is considering setting up Angel/Venture funds for electronics-specific firms in the next few months. A detailed project report for setting up a Rs.10,000 crore EDF is being examined.  Besides, a dedicated Working Group has been set up in Department of Electronics and Information Technology to consider specific R&D and product development proposals which will help the manufacturing and IP development.  Source: Deccan Herald Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations of Private Companies in the country. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.

Market regulator SEBI has approved India’s first social venture fund, Incube Connect Fund, which seeks to collect Rs.200 crore for investment in four sectors impacting the life of people.  The Ahmedabad-based social venture fund has been sponsored by Incube Ventures Pvt Ltd, promoted by Mani Iyer, for primarily incubating, mentoring, providing seed capital and angel investments to nascent business ideas of social ventures, promoting differentiated high social impact technology among others. Incube Connect, a nine-year, Rs.200-crore sector-agnostic fund will primarily be focused on four sectors: healthcare delivery-product and services, vocational education and skill enhancement, clean energy and eco business and sustainable rural business innovations.  Source: Business Line     Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations...

Mumbai-based real estate portal Housing.co.in has raised angel funding from eight investors led by Zishaan Hayath, who’s the co-founder of the Future Bazaar acquired Chaupati Bazaar. The other investors include Vaibhav Puranik, Shishir Kapoor, Hemanth Goteti, Gagan Goyal, Harsh Baid, Aditya Agarwal and Aatif Misbah.  Started by IIT-Bombay alumnus Advitiya Sharma, Housing.co.in’s current crop of investors is also, save one, predominantly from IIT-B. The main use of the investment will be to hire top talent. It may also raise a first round of VC funding.  Source: Yourstory.in Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations of Private Companies in the country. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.

Bessemer Venture Partners has extended Series A financing to Mumbai-based Anunta Technology Management Services. Founded by Ananda Mukerji, founding CEO of Firstsource Solutions, and Sanjiv Dalal, ex-CTO of Firstsource Solutions and a serial entrepreneur, Anunta focuses on application performance in virtualized environments. It designs cloud-based application delivery architectures, provides on-going management and delivers services on a pay per user billing model with guarantees on end-user experience.  The financing will help Anunta build its product platform in its entirety, boost sales and marketing, and sell globally.  Source: Press Release   Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on private equity, venture capital and M&A transactions in India as well as Financials & Valuations of Private Companies in the country. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most ...

Kolkata-based healthcare provider iKure TechSoft has received an investment from angel investor group Intellecap Impact Investment Network (I3N). Launched in 2011, I3N comprises individuals and institutional investors looking to invest into young for-profit social enterprises. The investment has been made by 2 HNI members of the network - Jayesh Parekh, co-founder of Sony Entertainment Television, and Nandan Maluste, who has over 35 years of senior management experience. The funds will be used to set up Rural Health Centers (RHCs) across rural West Bengal over the next 3-4 months. Maluste is joining the iKure board. iKure, founded in 2009 by three ex-Oracle professionals, delivers affordable and effective healthcare at the grassroots. The company sets up RHCs that are equipped with full-time MBBS doctors, pharmacists, and health officers that record data for all activity at the centers. iKure currently runs over 20 RHCs across West Bengal and Orissa and has provided consultation...

Mumbai-based IntelleGrow, a venture debt-financing company for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), has raised Rs.10 crore from the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation (MSDF). IntelleGrow, promoted by investment banking services and advisory firm Intellectual Capital Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd (Intellecap) has disbursed 20 loans totalling Rs.15 crore to SMEs across India in areas such as wastewater recycling, clean-energy solutions, low-cost irrigation, rural healthcare, rural electrification and non-credit financial inclusion. The company provides viability-based debt financing to early-stage enterprises with a turnover of less than Rs.50 crore and a track record of at least 12 months. Source: Mint Are you at APEX?  Where The Stars Foretell the Future of Indian PE/VC  http://ventureintelligence.in/apex13-mailer.htm Are you Showcasing at APEX?  Don't Miss Out on THE Most Effective Investor Networking Opportunity of the Year http://ventureintelligence.blogspot...

San Francisco-based Burrill & Company has completed a Series B round of financing in Bangalore-based Strand Life Sciences .  Burrill, a diversified global financial services firm focused on the life science industry, is the sole investor in this round, which included both a primary investment and a secondary buyout of the lead Series A investors. The fresh infusion will be used to expand the company’s presence in precision diagnostics and reach into global markets. From the Venture Intelligence PE Deal database : Strand had raised $2.7 M from UTI Ventures in Nov-01, and $1.9 M from Sequoia in Sep-02. Source: Press Release Are you at APEX?  Where The Stars Foretell the Future of Indian PE/VC  http://ventureintelligence.in/apex13-mailer.htm Are you Showcasing at APEX?  Don't Miss Out on THE Most Effective Investor Networking Opportunity of the Year http://ventureintelligence.blogspot.in/2013/01/crucial-connect-to-venture-capital.h...

MasterCard Advisors , a division of NYSE-listed MasterCard, has acquired an equity stake in Bangalore-based analytics firm Mu Sigma . The partnership seeks to combine MasterCard Advisors’ purchase behavior insights with Mu Sigma’s advanced analytics and expertise. MasterCard Advisors and Mu Sigma will jointly develop innovative analytic products to enable companies of all sizes to successfully solve their business challenges – like acquiring customers and increasing customer loyalty.  From the Venture Intelligence PE Deal database: In Jun-11, Sequoia had invested $25-M in Mu Sigma. In Dec-11, General Atlantic and Sequoia had invested $108-M in the company. Are you at APEX?  Where The Stars Foretell the Future of Indian PE/VC  http://ventureintelligence.in/apex13-mailer.htm Are you Showcasing at APEX?  Don't Miss Out on THE Most Effective Investor Networking Opportunity of the Year http://ventureintelligence.blogspot.in/2013/01/crucial-connec...

Cadence Design Systems, Inc ., a leader in global electronic design innovation, has acquired Cosmic Circuits Pvt Ltd , a provider of analog and mixed signal intellectual property (IP) cores. Cosmic Circuits offers silicon-proven IP solutions in connectivity and advanced mixed-signal technologies in the 40nm and 28nm process nodes, with 20nm and FinFET development well underway. As part of this transaction, the IC and Systems business of Cosmic Circuits will be spun off into a separate new company to be owned by certain existing shareholders of Cosmic Circuits.  Founded in 2005 and based in Bangalore, India, Cosmic Circuits has more than 75 customers worldwide. Are you at APEX?  Where The Stars Foretell the Future of Indian PE/VC  http://ventureintelligence.in/apex13-mailer.htm Are you Showcasing at APEX?  Don't Miss Out on THE Most Effective Investor Networking Opportunity of the Year http://ventureintelligence.blogspot.in/2013/01/crucial-conn...

Kabir Misra, managing partner at SoftBank Capital and president/CEO of SB China and India Holdings, which manages Bodhi Investments LLC, has joined Softbank’s $250 million SoftBank PrinceVille Investments, L.P. fund.  Alibaba Group, the worldwide e-commerce leader based in China, and MediaTek, Inc., a leading fabless semiconductor company based in Taiwan, through affiliates are limited partners and members of the Advisory Committee of the PrinceVille Fund. Source: webwire.com Are you at APEX?  Where The Stars Foretell the Future of Indian PE/VC  http://ventureintelligence.in/apex13-mailer.htm Are you Showcasing at APEX?  Don't Miss Out on THE Most Effective Investor Networking Opportunity of the Year http://ventureintelligence.blogspot.in/2013/01/crucial-connect-to-venture-capital.html

Hyderabad-based Medical Education Research Centre for Education Technologies (MEdRC EduTech), an e-learning content production, multimedia software development and animation provider in the medical education space, is looking at raising Rs.30 crore. The company is in the final stage of discussions with a US-based venture capital fund with fund size of more than $10-billion catering to the healthcare space.  The due-diligence process is over, and the deal may close in a month or a week. The money will be used for three purposes - developing content, expanding infrastructure and marketing activities, and for entering into the retail market (selling digitised content directly to students). Apart from expanding in the Indian market, the company also plans taking the services to countries like the West Asia, Malaysia and the US by next year. Since inception, MEdRC EduTech has invested Rs.22 crore backed by company promoters.  Source: Business Standard Are you at APE...

Krithika Nelson, one of the co-founders of Shopo.in, a Chennai based niche online store for handcrafted Indian products, has quit her position as the CEO of the company. Theyagrajan, the other co-founder of Shopo will take over as the Chief Executive of the company.  Source: Next Big What Are you at APEX?  Where The Stars Foretell the Future of Indian PE/VC  http://ventureintelligence.in/apex13-mailer.htm Are you Showcasing at APEX?  Don't Miss Out on THE Most Effective Investor Networking Opportunity of the Year http://ventureintelligence.blogspot.in/2013/01/crucial-connect-to-venture-capital.html

Ma Foi Strategic Consultants has acquired 17.5% stake in Oviya MedSafe , a Coimbatore-based pharmacovigilance (a science that deals with adverse effects of medication) start-up company. Oviya MedSafe was founded by Dr J Vijay Venkatraman, a diabetologist and drug safety physician. K.Pandiarajan founder of Ma Foi has joined Oviya Medsafe's board.  Source: Business Line Are you at APEX?  Where The Stars Foretell the Future of Indian PE/VC  http://ventureintelligence.in/apex13-mailer.htm Are you Showcasing at APEX?  Don't Miss Out on THE Most Effective Investor Networking Opportunity of the Year http://ventureintelligence.blogspot.in/2013/01/crucial-connect-to-venture-capital.html

Out of 350 applications from various sectors, Microsoft has chosen 13 tech start-ups which will constitute the second batch of the Microsoft Accelerator for Windows Azure program in India.  The 13 startups are: 360 Living (expert health information provider); Adepto (a social app platform); DeckApp (enables presentations on any device); Frintit (lets one print and receive hard-copy prints of photos for free – from the web and from mobile); Harness (an education technology platform); I7 Networks (agentless BYOD control); Label Guild (a marketplace for designers and buyers); Profoundis (business analytics product); Qubole (SaaS analytics platform); SupportBee (customer support software); TableGrabber (restaurant reservation system); Tuebora (cloud based identity and access governance solutions); Visarity (augmented reality start-up).  The start-ups will undergo a four-month program under the guidance of mentors from the industry and Microsoft.  Source: Yoursto...

UTV founder Ronnie Screwvala-led Unilazer Ventures has invested Rs.53 crore (about $10 million) along with existing investor IDG Ventures India, in New Delhi-based Valyoo Technologies, which owns sites like LensKart , BagsKart, WatchKart and JewelKart. Signal Hill Capital Advisory India was the exclusive financial advisor to the deal. The latest funding will help Valyoo expand to smaller towns and cities, build offline franchises and design products based upon specific market research about customer preferences. It will also help in strengthening the supply chain & marketing. IDG had invested $4 million (Rs.22 crore) in the startup in 2011. Valyoo, founded by IIM-B graduate Peeyush Bansal in 2010, has raised about Rs.75 crore till now.  Are you at APEX?  Where The Stars Foretell the Future of Indian PE/VC  http://ventureintelligence.in/apex13-mailer.htm Are you Showcasing at APEX?  Don't Miss Out on THE Most Effective Investor Networking Opportu...

Times Internet backed Instamedia, once a blog network with as many as 17 properties, has been sold. InstaMedia and Instapress were sold off to a Dubai based group, while one of its earlier properties, BornRich.org, was acquired by one of the company’s founders, Nandini Rathi. Another founder, Ankit Maheshwari, has started up again, launching an editorial project management venture called BetaOut, with angel investor Vishal Gondal on its board. Gondal and Samir Bangara had backed Instamedia before Times Internet invested $4 million in it.  Source: MediaNama Are you at APEX?  Where The Stars Foretell the Future of Indian PE/VC  http://ventureintelligence.in/apex13-mailer.htm Are you Showcasing at APEX?  Don't Miss Out on THE Most Effective Investor Networking Opportunity of the Year http://ventureintelligence.blogspot.in/2013/01/crucial-connect-to-venture-capital.html

Hedge fund Tiger Global Management and VC firm Accel Partners have made their third round investment in travel and holiday information company, HolidayIQ. Tiger Global has invested an estimated Rs.26-30 crore in the Bangalore-based firm, which will use the funding for product development, marketing and hiring talent.  In November 2010, the firm merged with Wego Pte, a Singapore-based travel search company. Following the merger, the combined entity then jointly raised a second round of funding from Tiger Global. Now, HolidayIQ and Wego have de-merged.  Source: Economic Times Are you at APEX?  Where The Stars Foretell the Future of Indian PE/VC  http://ventureintelligence.in/apex13-mailer.htm Are you Showcasing at APEX?  Don't Miss Out on THE Most Effective Investor Networking Opportunity of the Year http://ventureintelligence.blogspot.in/2013/01/crucial-connect-to-venture-capital.html

Hyderabad-based provider of digitalized content for engineering test preparations Learnpedia has secured an investment from Ixora Ventures and a consortium of angels. Founded in 2012 by serial entrepreneur Krishna Rao Akula, Learnpedia aims at narrowing the learning gap faced by students by providing learning aids and test analytics across digital platforms including branded tablets.  The funding will be used to improve content and add additional products to the portfolio. Learnpedia has offices in Delhi and the US as well and employs 37 people.  Source: Yourstory.in   Are you at APEX?  Where The Stars Foretell the Future of Indian PE/VC  http://ventureintelligence.in/apex13-mailer.htm Are you Showcasing at APEX?  Don't Miss Out on THE Most Effective Investor Networking Opportunity of the Year http://ventureintelligence.blogspot.in/2013/01/crucial-connect-to-venture-capital.html

Bangalore-based listed Mobile VAS company OnMobile Global Ltd has made an exit from Bangalore-based mobile classifieds firm Ver Se Innovation , a company that it had originally incubated. OnMobile has sold its final remaining stake in Ver Se for Rs 5.5 crore.   From the Venture Intelligence PE Deal database: PE investors in Ver Se invclude Matrix Partners, Omidyar Network and Franklin Templeton.  Source: Press Release   Are you at APEX?  Where The Stars Foretell the Future of Indian PE/VC  http://ventureintelligence.in/apex13-mailer.htm Are you Showcasing at APEX?  Don't Miss Out on THE Most Effective Investor Networking Opportunity of the Year http://ventureintelligence.blogspot.in/2013/01/crucial-connect-to-venture-capital.html

Financial services distribution company NetAmbit has acquired atOnePlace.com and theBuyerPower.com , real estate portals for Indian properties and property group deals. With this acquisition, NetAmbit expects to be able to expand its Internet enabled model for fulfillment of real estate leads. The acquired portals are run by Noida-based One Place Infotech Pvt. Ltd., which was founded by its CEO Gunjan Garg.   From the Venture Intelligence PE Deal database: v PE investors in Netambit include Bessemer, Helion Ventures and Zephyr Peacock. Source: Press Release Are you at APEX?  Where The Stars Foretell the Future of Indian PE/VC  http://ventureintelligence.in/apex13-mailer.htm Are you Showcasing at APEX?  Don't Miss Out on THE Most Effective Investor Networking Opportunity of the Year http://ventureintelligence.blogspot.in/2013/01/crucial-connect-to-venture-capital.html