The Venture Intelligence Blog

The NASSCOM Product Conclave & Expo 2008 , the only annual conference for the Indian software product industry, is to be held on August 11 & 12 at Bangalore. Key Highlights: NASSCOM Product Business Study Launch Emerging Global & Domestic Opportunities Key emerging opportunities for the Indian Product Industry Showcase of emerging product companies Intel Initiative for Indian Product Companies High potential sectors: Customer Insights on Industry Verticals; their Expectations of products Talent proposition for Product Business in India Product Business - Shift from Product Development to Product Management Understanding Markets, Customers and “Go-to-market” strategies and methodology Industry analysts on Issues around capital, growth, organizational structuring; Angel, VC and PE investment priorities and value propositions Key speakers include Kiran Karnik, Former President of Nasscom; Alok Mittal of Canaan Partners; Bala Iyer, Reliance Retail; Bharat Goenka, Tally; Dr. He...

From Press Release: GVFL Limited, India’s pioneer Venture Capital Company announces an investment of Rs. 110 million in Sahajanand Laser Technology Limited, India’s one of the largest manufacturers of Laser Systems for Diamond Industry. GVFL will make the investment from its Rs. 650 million SME Technology Venture Fund. Sahajanand Laser Technology based in Gandhinagar will be utilizing the funds in the expansion of their range of high – end laser machines. Sahajanand Laser is the 65th investment being made by GVFL in innovative technology companies across India. About GVFL Ltd. GVFL Limited, started by Gujarat Industrial and Investment Corporation (GIIC) at the initiative of the World Bank in July 1990, has recently launched SME Technology Venture Fund of corpus Rs. 2500 million. The SME Fund, a pan-India fund, is used for investing in various projects of both Small & Medium Technology Companies in IT, Biotechnology, Nanotechnology and other sectors. GVFL Limited has made its first ...

Knoweldge@Wharton has an article on how African countries like South Africa, Botswana and Congo are coping with the race for natural resources. Mining is (South Africa's) biggest employer: a half-million people are employed directly by mines and another 400,000 indirectly through associated services like shipping. South African mines produce nearly 90% of the world's platinum, 80% of manganese, 73% of chrome and -- despite its recent slip in position -- 43% of the world's gold. Mining overall contributed 7% to South Africa's GDP in 2006. When adjusted for associated services and additional industry output, such as electricity production, the total rises to 18.4%. ...there is no doubt that global competition is changing the rules -- and the stakes -- in Africa's mining industry. Huckle noted the increasing presence of Chinese mining companies in Africa and their tendency to conduct business differently than companies from democratic countries. "When the Chinese...

Extracts from Press Release: Geodesic Techniques, a leading player in steel-based construction, today announced that the company has received an investment of about $11 million (Rs. 45 crores) from Mayfield Fund and Silicon Vally Bank (SVB) in return for a minority stake. Mayfield led the round. The funds will be utilized for setting up a steel fabrication unit in Bidar and for other working capital requirements. Veda Corporate Advisors intermediated the deal. Geodesic is a leading design & build player specialized in steel based construction and signature structures. The company is involved in prestigious projects such as the Mumbai and Delhi International Airports. The company has to its credit marquee corporate customers and end-users such as Infosys, TCS, L&T, GVK & GMR. It is currently in the midst of an aggressive expansion plan and the fund infusion is expected to help meet its growth objectives. Srinidhi Anantharaman, Managing Director, Geodesic Techniques, said, “I...

The Indian School of Business is organizing an event on Private Equity event at its Hyderabad campus on September 6. The theme of the event is "Private Equity: Pioneering Practices, Partnering Businesses". The event would involve a keynote speaker and two panel discussions on - Quo Vadis Private Equity? Sunrise sectors, deal valuations and exit strategies - Private Equity: Adding value to India Inc's business practices For more information, contact Irshad Daftari on irshad_daftari@pgp2009.isb.edu or +91-97058-06219

Ashutosh Vaidya, CEO, Wipro BPO and Raj Chatterjea, Director-M&A, Motilal Oswal have joined the exciting speaker line up at IT Services & BPO Connect '08 (IB Connect). IB Connect is a conference that brings together investors, entrepreneurs and top executives in the IT Services & BPO sectors to network, discuss and share best practices. The 2008 edition, to be held on August 28 at Mumbai, aims to review current trends and explore new opportunities. Other speakers at the conference include: - Aparup Sengupta, CEO, Aegis BPO - Nitin Shah, CMD, Allied Digital - Salil Parekh, Executive Chairman, Capgemini India - Akshaya Bhargava, CEO, Fulcrum Group* - Partha De Sarkar, CEO, HTMT Global - Srinath Batni, Director, Infosys - Shailesh Shah, Chief Strategy Officer, Satyam - V.K. Raman, Head-BPO Services, TCS - Dev Raman, Principal, Tricolor India - Rajesh Jain, Director, KPMG - Niteen Tulpule, Director, KPMG Like other Venture Intelligence conferences , IB Connect '08 to...

Deepak Shenoy has an interesting post on the " Bad news and then more bad news " for mall developers and their tenants: Remember how the funda worked: * "Premium" apartments come up * Malls come up nearby saying ok, these guys need to shop * Apartment rentals and prices go up saying oh there are so many malls nearby. "Developed" area. * Mall rentals go up saying look at the real estate prices here. * Some big retailer sets up shop and promptly loses money but terms it a long term investment. * Everyone else says heck, if he can lose money, so can we, so they also do the same thing. Now someone's knocked some sense into everyone's head. (It's called "reality") So as real estate prices have come off the highs, and retailers vanish, soon mall and house rentals will follow. Ghost malls are likely to be common as developers, now flush with cash after the boom, decide they will "ride it out". They'll pay int...