Kanwal Rekhi and John Dougery are based in Silicon Valley, while Samir Kumar and Parag Dhol are based in Bangalore. In addition, Inventus has several prominent Venture Advisors including Saurabh Srivastava (successful entrepreneur and early venture capitalist in India), Prof. Rajeev Motwani (Stanford University professor, and start-up advisor to the Google & Yahoo! Founders), B. V. Jagadeesh (successful serial entrepreneur), and Dr. Sridhar Mitta (former President of Wipro’s R&D).

Speaking to reporters at a press conference in Bangalore, Kanwal Rekhi, Co-founder, Inventus Capital Partners, said, “Across India I see many similarities with the emergence of Indo-American entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. Our success in mentoring those entrepreneurs who created outstanding companies in that environment is directly relevant to the needs of Indian entrepreneurs, particularly given the strong ongoing ties with Silicon Valley. We formed Inventus to harness our unique combination of operating experience and mentoring skills to further catalyze India’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.”

According to John Dougery, Co-founder, Inventus Capital Partners, “Kanwal and I have successfully backed entrepreneurs together for over a decade, and closely teamed with Samir and Parag we are well positioned to support Indian ventures which leverage technology to revolutionize the Indian economy and disrupt global markets.”

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Inventus Capital Partners:

Inventus supports ambitious entrepreneurs building the next generation of technology powered companies, particularly software products, services, embedded software, consumer internet, semiconductor and mobile services companies. The Inventus principals have successfully invested in over 100 companies through multiple venture cycles since 1993. They typically lead the first significant round of financing and play active mentoring roles on company boards. To date they’ve supported entrepreneurs in building dozens of successful public companies or highly valued acquisitions, resulting in the creation of $30 billion+ in aggregate wealth and market value for respective entrepreneur founders and shareholders. Inventus Capital Partners was formed with the support of the highest quality institutional investors and top-tier US venture firms including U.S. Venture Partners. For more information on Inventus Capital Partners, please visit: http://www.inventuscap.com

For editorial queries only contact Manpreet/Sambhu @ 9845901316/ 9731154310; e-mail: manpreet@prhub.com/sambhu@prhub.com

The fund will be utilized to expand retail operations of Satya Paul, which is on a rapid expansion spree in India and overseas, with the first Satya Paul international store opening in Singapore in July 2008. The money will also be used for investments in technology – ERP solutions and a CRM program.

Speaking about the development, Sanjay Kapoor, Joint MD, Genesis Colors, said “we are delighted to have Sequoia Capital, Mayfield Fund and SV Bank as investment partners and we plan to use our partners’ relationships and strategic inputs to expand the retail network of Satya Paul and cement the growth of the luxury brands business footprints in India.” Adding on he said,” At present we have 27 stand alone Satya Paul stores, we plan to take the tally to 50 by 2010. We will use this investment for setting up a state of the art digital printing unit to service our requirement. We also plan an IPO in the next 3 years, once we have built critical mass”

Elaborating further, Kapoor disclosed that plans include to promote the newly formed entity ‘Genesis Luxury’ to market and distribute European luxury brands – Canali, Kenzo, Paul Smith, Just Cavalli and Aigner within India. The funds will also be used for marketing and creating an extensive retail and distribution network for the lingerie label Bwitch. According to Jyoti Narula, Joint MD, GCPL, “ Bwitch is India’s very own premium lingerie brand catering to the urban and upwardly mobile Indian woman. We plan to spend about 25 crores in brand building, marketing and distribution of Bwitch.”

According to Naresh Malhotra, Operating Partner of Sequoia Capital, "We are very excited to partner with Genesis Colors - one of the largest branded players in the premium end of the market. We believe that the team at Genesis is well positioned to ride the growth in rising affluence, with products that fit in to the growing desire of consumers to buy and experience superior brands."

Vikram Godse, Managing Director of Mayfield Advisors, who will be joining the board of directors said, “Having known the company for the past couple of years, and having worked with this team closely in the past, we are excited to be investing in, what we consider, India’s premier fashion brand in women’s apparel. We are looking forward to working with the Satya Paul team and helping them grow their business to achieve their fullest potential”.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Genesis Colors Pvt. Ltd.

Genesis Colors Pvt. Ltd. (GCPL) is the holding company of premier fashion labels - SATYA PAUL, DEEPIKA GEHANI, SHOBHAA DE and BWITCH! – India’s first designer lingerie brand. Along with promoting these designer labels, GCPL has also ventured into multi brand retailing with its luxury retail chain – Samsaara. Established in 2001, GCPL has traversed borders and created new terrains in the ‘Business of Fashion’ under the able leadership of Managing Director Mr. Sanjay Kapoor. GCPL is the first company in the sector to have obtained private equity, hence is not only the trendsetter but also a torchbearer for the Indian fashion industry.

GCPL is modeled on the lines of international fashion conglomerates, a move that has paid rich dividends since the company now not only owns several Indian brands but is also generating interest among international brands for partnerships. GCPL is currently on a brand acquisition spree and is looking at introducing established luxury brands in the booming Indian high-end retail segment. It has effectively used multi brand stores and stand-alone boutiques to reach out to its discerning customer base both in India, as well as abroad. The labels that GCPL has acquired again reiterate the company’s strategy to reach out to audiences across age and demographics.

Genesis Colors Pvt. Ltd., has entered into a joint venture with Sports Station India Pvt. Ltd. (SSIPL), a leading player in the retail Industry, currently marketing brands like Nike, Levis, Dockers amongst others, to form ‘Genesis Luxury Pvt. Ltd’, which will market and distribute international luxury labels within the country.

Genesis Luxury has brought international luxury brands such as Aigner and Canali and is bringing into India many more brands such as Kenzo, Paul Smith and Just Cavali in the financial year 2008-09. Genesis Luxury Pvt. Ltd. plans to open 50 to 70 luxury retail stores for its brands across the country in the next 3-4 years.

GCPL ensures that all its brands enjoy the widest reach possible through a synchronized pan India and international distribution network and also undertakes marketing initiatives for its brands. Key members of the GCPL team include, Sanjay Kapoor (Finance & Marketing), Jyoti Narula (Operations & Logistics), Puneet Nanda (Design) and Nalini Gupta (Merchandising & Retail).

This year the team was sponsored by Tilaknagar Industries Ltd.

The team got off to a bad start securing only one point from three matches. They lost to Sea View SC 0-1; Income Tax 1-4 and tied with Rizvi Mumbai Muslims 1-1 under temporary coach Nelson.

The team training was taken over PIFA Director Nirvan Shah who had just returned after obtaining his UEFA B football coaching license from England. The team was turned around and remained unbeaten, since then. They beat - Mumbai Port Trust 8-0; Air India 2-0; Companeros SC 3-1 and drew with Central Railway (Mumbai Div) 3-3.

The team finished 3rd with 11 points in the league format and qualified on being one of the 5 top teams for the Championship Super 5.

In the playoff, they beat Sea View SC 1-0 & Rizvi Mumbai Muslims 1-0 and drew with Income Tax 1-1. The team had 7 points from 3 games and had secured 2nd place.

They faced the league toppers Central Railway in their last & deciding match. The team needed to win this match to get on top of the league, the team was handicapped with most of its players injured and reporting for national duty. The team played attacking football but were unfortunate to concede goals late in both half's. Although, they lost 0-2. Both teams are promoted to play Elite division for the next season having finished top 2.

PIFA Colaba Youngstar FC (PIFA CYFC) is a community project of the Premier India Football Academy & PIFA Foundation for the benefit of sports.

The goal of this project is to help support and develop talented under privileged football players in the Colaba area of Mumbai.

The average age of the team is 19-20 years. Two young boys form the team Ajith Bhoir & Harshad Meher have been selected to play for India U-16. Also 3 other players played for Maharashtra U-19

The club is now looking for sponsors to be able to buy experienced players for the side to match the teams like Mahindra United, Air India, Mumbai FC & ONGC all whom play the National I league.

For details of the sponsorship please visit www.pifacademy.com or email info@pifacademy.com

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

A Football Academy dedicated to training young Indian children. It strongly believes that the road to India's FIFA World Cup is thru the children, they are the future of India.

PIFA organize camps in Europe & in India with UEFA Coaches as well as runs a training academy in Mumbai. All coaches are AFC / FA/ UEFA licensed. They have a men’s & women’s team in the MDFA league. They also conduct various events related to children’s football.

Tied up with Inspire Academy, Bobby Charlton Soccer & Sports Academy, Rangers Soccer School, AC Milan Academy, Cruzerio EC, Everton FC Youth Academy.

PIFA Vision - India in the 2022 World Cup !!!

2. The Whrrl service catalogs peoples’ activities, chronicling an individual’s history of places visited and events attended through icons pinpointed on Whrrl’s built-in mapping application. Whrrl users and their friends can then rate, review, and comment on these places and events.

3. Whrrl shares user-contributed information with others through a real-time micro-blogging feature called the "Whrrld Feed." Whrrl users check in via SMS, the Whrrl mobile application, or the Whrrl Web site, instantly updating others on their location or status through their Whrrld Feed. Whrrl’s "passive visitization" technology can precisely detect if a person is walking into a store or merely walking by.

4. Whrrl also has a powerful filtering feature which allows users to quickly find places and events based on a combination of factual and social criteria like hours of operation, distance from current location, cuisine type, show times and friends’ ratings. This filtering capability in Whrrl opens entirely new discovery pathways by allowing users to look at the map and search through the eyes of the people they know and the places they go.

5. The Whrrl service is currently available nationally in the U.S., with a database of millions of interesting businesses and events. In select metro areas, Whrrl provides industry-leading location data, going down to details like happy hours, and features ranging from free wi-fi to fireplaces to outdoor seating. This deep data experience is currently available in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Austin, Chicago, Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Kansas City, Phoenix, Philadelphia, and Miami, with more metro areas to come.

Other investors in Pelago include Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers, Jeff Bezos’ Bezos Expeditions (Founder and ex-CEO, Amazon), T-Ventures, DAG Ventures and Trilogy Equity Partners.

According to Harshal Shah, CEO of RTVL, "Pelago offer consumers and advertisers a unique proposition by combining local search and discovery with an underlying social networking flavor. While it offers consumers to discover, rate and review places and events, Pelago also enables advertisers to get better ROI through it’s highly precise location based advertising platform."

According to Jeff Holden, CEO of Pelago, "Whrrl allows you to discover the world through the eyes of your friends and other people you trust. In this way, it makes a person’s social network valuable in a completely new way. We’ve created Whrrl as an indispensable real-world mobile companion for our users and we find it extremely gratifying that Reliance Technology Ventures recognizes this potential and supports us as a vital strategic investor."

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Reliance Technology Ventures Limited

RTVL has advised and / or invested in deals to the tune of over $4 billion. Yatra.com, India’s largest on-line travel portal, Sequans Communications, Stoke Inc, E-Band Communications Corporation, Seedfund are some of its portfolio investments. RTVL had also advised Reliance Globalcom in the acquisition of U.K. based eWave World and in the $300 million acquisition of US based Yipes Holding, Inc, a leading provider of managed Ethernet Services. RTVL has also led the investment into an undisclosed technology company which formed the basis of the largest venture capital transaction in India. RTVL invests in leading edge technologies, disruptive business models and technology enabled companies around the world.

About Pelago

Pelago, Inc. is an early-stage company based in Seattle developing a new generation of consumer experiences based on breakthrough technology, including Whrrl, a new mobile and Web-based service at the intersection of social networking and local discovery. Pelago was founded by former senior executives from Amazon.com. www.pelago.com

2. The Whrrl service catalogs peoples’ activities, chronicling an individual’s history of places visited and events attended through icons pinpointed on Whrrl’s built-in mapping application. Whrrl users and their friends can then rate, review, and comment on these places and events.

3. Whrrl shares user-contributed information with others through a real-time micro-blogging feature called the “Whrrld Feed.” Whrrl users check in via SMS, the Whrrl mobile application, or the Whrrl Web site, instantly updating others on their location or status through their Whrrld Feed. Whrrl’s "passive visitization" technology can precisely detect if a person is walking into a store or merely walking by.

4. Whrrl also has a powerful filtering feature which allows users to quickly find places and events based on a combination of factual and social criteria like hours of operation, distance from current location, cuisine type, show times and friends’ ratings. This filtering capability in Whrrl opens entirely new discovery pathways by allowing users to look at the map and search through the eyes of the people they know and the places they go.

5. The Whrrl service is currently available nationally in the U.S., with a database of millions of interesting businesses and events. In select metro areas, Whrrl provides industry-leading location data, going down to details like happy hours, and features ranging from free wi-fi to fireplaces to outdoor seating. This deep data experience is currently available in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Austin, Chicago, Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Kansas City, Phoenix, Philadelphia, and Miami, with more metro areas to come.

6. Other investors in Pelago include Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers, Jeff Bezos’ Bezos Expeditions (Founder and ex-CEO, Amazon), T-Ventures, DAG Ventures and Trilogy Equity Partners.

According to Harshal Shah, CEO of RTVL, "Pelago offer consumers and advertisers a unique proposition by combining local search and discovery with an underlying social networking flavor. While it offers consumers to discover, rate and review places and events, Pelago also enables advertisers to get better ROI through it’s highly precise location based advertising platform.”

According to Jeff Holden, CEO of Pelago, “Whrrl allows you to discover the world through the eyes of your friends and other people you trust. In this way, it makes a person’s social network valuable in a completely new way. We’ve created Whrrl as an indispensable real-world mobile companion for our users and we find it extremely gratifying that Reliance Technology Ventures recognizes this potential and supports us as a vital strategic investor.”

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Reliance Technology Ventures Limited

RTVL has advised and / or invested in deals to the tune of over $4 billion. Yatra.com, India’s largest on-line travel portal, Sequans Communications, Stoke Inc, E-Band Communications Corporation, Seedfund are some of its portfolio investments. RTVL had also advised Reliance Globalcom in the acquisition of U.K. based eWave World and in the $300 million acquisition of US based Yipes Holding, Inc, a leading provider of managed Ethernet Services. RTVL has also led the investment into an undisclosed technology company which formed the basis of the largest venture capital transaction in India. RTVL invests in leading edge technologies, disruptive business models and technology enabled companies around the world.

About Pelago

Pelago, Inc. is an early-stage company based in Seattle developing a new generation of consumer experiences based on breakthrough technology, including Whrrl, a new mobile and Web-based service at the intersection of social networking and local discovery. Pelago was founded by former senior executives from Amazon.com. www.pelago.com

Mr ManmohanShetty, founder & former CMD of Adlabs Films Ltd, is an angel investor & Chairman of iRock. Mr. Shetty said “I am very excited by the project slate of iRock and believe the company will soon create it’s own niche in the Indian film industry. The Indian film industry is in constant flux and an innovative content development approach is required to cater to the ever demanding Indian audiences”.

Founder & CEO, Sidhartha Jain added “I am very excited to have Mr. Shetty as amentor & investor in this company. It is a dream opportunity and provides us with a fantastic platform. We will be producing ‘visually exciting’ content and want to be known for specific kind of content. iRock will invest in development of ‘high-concept’ film content in live-action & animation for the Indian audiences. The focus will be on technology dependent content which will be rich in animation and visual effects. Care will be taken to ensure a wide 360 degree exploitation plan forall our intellectual properties. Currently we have an exciting slate of 8 projects, of which 2 are animation and 6 are live-action with VFX/animation”.

The 1st animated film is a sequel to & based on bollywood’s cult comedy “Andaz ApnaApna”. The new script is currently being developed & a renowned bollywood comedy director will soon be attached.

In the live-action-vfx slate, “Zudora” will go in production this year. The film is based on the popular book by the same name and is a fantasy-magical-adventureset in the mysterious world of “Zudora”. This too is a franchise property whichwill be exploited across mediums.

Apart from“Zudora”, there are a couple of VFX dependent films currently in development.One of them is a fantasy-magical-war film, of epic proportions set in a parallel world.

Comedy is another genre that iRock will focus on in live-action. They will be primarily in the mid-budget range and will introduce a couple of new directors.

Specific project announcements to be made shortly.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Giving details on the second fund Sanjeev Aggarwal, Managing Director, Helion Venture Partners Pvt. Ltd. said, “What is heartening is the fact that while all the original investors have invested again in Helion’s second fund, the fund has also attracted new high quality investors from the US, Europe and Asia. This reflects growing global investor confidence in both Helion and the India growth story.”

Since its launch in 2006, Helion has invested in 11 companies including JiGrahak, makemytrip.com, UnitedLex, Gridstone, Anantara, Zmanda, Kirusa, Komli, Hurix, Amba Research and Mindworks Global Media Service. As proof of the growing eco-system of entrepreneurs in India are the over 1000 proposals from different sectors that Helion has evaluated in the same period.

Kanwaljit Singh, Managing Director, Helion Venture Partners Pvt. Ltd. said, “The rise of entrepreneurial activity within fast growing domestic consumption-led sectors makes a compelling investment proposition for Helion. This is set to increase even further as sound policy initiatives and technological advancements make it possible for more Indians to partake in India’s growth.”

With an estimated ten-fold increase in the middle-class population and three-fold rise in household income, aggregate consumer spending in India is likely to more than quadruple from around US$ 428.69 billion in 2005 to US$ 1.76 trillion in 2025. Also, as per a study by McKinsey Global Institute, India is likely to leap-frog from being the twelfth largest consumer market in the world to become the fifth largest consumer market in the world.

“Helion will continue its focus on technology-powered businesses even as we expand our focus into consumer services. Factors like the rapid increase in mobile and Internet penetration in India are further paving the way for innovative technology products and services that to cater to the domestic market In addition, Domain focused outsourcing and technology products continue to be focus sectors,” said Ashish Gupta, Managing Director, Helion Venture Partners Pvt. Ltd.

In keeping with its mission to ‘Partner with entrepreneurs to build world-class companies’, Helion plays an active role in helping companies make strategic choices and in building an organization that can execute on strategy. In keeping with this belief, Helion has on board, experts in the specific functional areas of Finance and HR. Natarajan Ranganathan, CFO and Dhruv Prakash, Director HR, work closely with Helion’s investee companies in guiding and mentoring them in the areas of finance and human capital management.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Helion Venture Partners:

Helion Venture Partners is a multi-stage, India-focused venture fund with $350 million under management. The fund invests in businesses that are either technology-powered or catering to the Indian consumer services space. The focus sectors of investment include - outsourcing, internet, mobile, technology products, retail services, education and financial services. The fund’s investors are well-respected Global institutions including top tier University endowment funds, Foundations and family offices. The fund and its portfolio companies are advised by an experienced and industry renowned team of professionals based in India which include Sanjeev Aggarwal, Ashish Gupta, Kanwaljit Singh and Rahul Chandra.

1. Sequans Communications, a leading WiMAX semiconductor company, provides innovative system-on-chip (SoC) solutions for both fixed and Mobile WiMAX systems. The company offers chip solution for building wide range of WiMAX network components like femto, micro, and macro base stations, outdoor and indoor subscriber terminals, home gateways and all types of mobile devices.

2. Sequan’s customers include Telsima, Alcatel-Lucent, Nortel, Redline, Airspan, Alvarion, Soma Networks, LG and Siemens.

3. Sequans is an exclusive provider of 4G mobile WiMAX chips to Sprint for its highly anticipated XOHM WiMAX network in USA.

4. Along with having the distinction of being the first to demonstrate Mobile WiMAX MIMO chip technology, SEQUANS has won multiple awards for its innovative SoC designs, including the best chip design award from WiMAX WORLD USA 2007 and the Red Herring 100 Global award for 2007.

5. RTVL joins SwissCom and CDC Enterprises as new Sequans investors. Existing investors include Alcatel Lucent, Motorola, Societe Generale Asset Management, Add Partners, Cap-Decisif, Kennet Venture Partners, Vision Capital and I-Source Gestion

According to Harshal Shah, CEO of RTVL, "Sequans is the clear leader in the WiMAX SoC arena. The global WiMAX market is projected to be $2 billion by 2009 and Sequans is well positioned to take advantage of this opportunity through its high performance, yet extremely efficient chip technology for both base stations and subscriber stations.”

Said Dr.Georges Karam, CEO of Sequans, “Sequan’s objective is to be the dominant supplier of WiMAX chips. We have delivered six chips in three years with speed and accuracy, and we are proud of the clientele and investors who have put their trust in us. We are happy to have Reliance Technology Ventures as a key strategic investor. The Reliance ADA Group has aggressive plans in the communications sector and we see our new partnership with Reliance as the beginning of a fruitful association.”

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Reliance Technology Ventures Limited

RTVL has advised and / or invested in deals to the tune of over $1 billion. Yatra.com, India’s largest on-line travel portal, E-Band Communications Corporation, Stoke Inc, Seedfund are some of its portfolio investments. RTVL has also led the investment into an undisclosed technology company which formed the basis of the largest venture capital transaction in India. RTVL invests in leading edge technologies, disruptive business models and technology enabled companies around the world.

About SEQUANS

SEQUANS Communications is a leading supplier of subscriber station and base station chips for both fixed and mobile WiMAX, based on IEEE 802.16-2004 and 802.16e-2005 standards, Sequans offers equipment manufacturers an all-in-one solution with full MAC and PHY functionality, enabling them to build a wide range of high performing WiMAX network components: femto, pico, micro and multi-sector macro base stations, outdoor and indoor subscriber terminals, home gateways, and all types of mobile devices. www.sequans.com

For further information please contact:
Raksha S Singh - Reliance Technology Ventures Limited
Tel: +91.22.30327039/ +91.22.30327000
Fax: +91.22.22847199
Email: raksha.singh@relianceada.com
www.rtvl.co.in

“It was a tough decision to make as all teams had winning ideas which could set a precedent to budding entrepreneurs across India,” said Mahesh Murthy, Partner, Seedfund. “Finally we selected Team Mudranik for their excellence in providing a business plan on the publishing industry and Team UNIAPPLY for their brilliance (education sector). They were adjudged the winners after a lot of thought and discussion.”

In the finals, the teams presented their business plans on a wide variety of topics such as IT enabled services, Vocational training, Manufacturing and Food & Beverages. The top 9 teams from all over the nation who have been mentored by experts participated in the grand finale at The Oberoi Grand, Kolkata that took place recently before a panel of seed investors looking to make deals.

i2I 2008 was held in partnership with the Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), National Entrepreneurship network (NEN), and Seedfund, taking the original competition to a different league of its own in terms of scale, scope and seriousness. In its new avatar, i2I has divested off it’s potentially ‘academic character’ by moving away from traditional ‘business-plan competitions’ which end up reducing to essay competitions with the rush for the cash prizes and no inclination to really start up.

Seedfund, the investing partner, has funded Redbus, Printo and Carwale among others. Said Anand Lunia of Seedfund, “Even start up plans that are right now only on paper stand a chance to get funded, so people in jobs thinking of leaving to start-up as well as students seriously looking at starting up right after education can take this as a serious opportunity.”

The event saw several luminaries attending such as Mr. Shashi Tharoor, former Under Secretary General – United Nations, Mr. Arjun Malhotra, Co-founder – HCL & CEO – Headstrong, Mr. K V Kamath, Managing Director & CEO – ICICI Bank, Ms. Laura Parkin, Executive Director – NEN & Wadhwani Foundation, Mr. R Ramraj, Advisor – Sequoia Capital, Mr. Bikram Dasgupta, Chairman & CEO – Globsyn Group, Mr. Rajeev Karwal, Founder & CEO – Milagrow Business & Knowledge Solutions, Mr. Raj Gollamudi, Co founder – Bluestream Ventures, Mr. Rajesh Jog, CEO – vJive Networks, Mr. Vinayak Chaterjee, Chairman – Feedback Ventures, Mr. Sanjeev Bhikchandani, CEO – Naukri.com, Ms Vandana Luthra, VLCC.and many others.

Commeting on the event, one of the judges, Rajesh Vakil- Siemens VC, said “I was pretty impressed to see the enthusiasm of participants who came here and presented their ideas even in the absence of a cash prize. This shows their focus and passion towards entrepreneurship.”

Another feature to note was the increase in the number of women entrepreneurs presenting their ideas in the finals. “I was pleasantly surprised to see that some of the best entrepreneurs were women” said Miss Laura Parkins- NeN.

“It was amazing to see the amount of passion, the variety of ideas…we had ideas ranging from retail, travel right up to entertainment. It shows that India has moved forward from IT.” – Ajit Balakrishnan

Participants commended IIM Kolkata team for providing them with a platform to showcase their business plans. They were particularly impressed by the mentorship and the interaction with the jury panel.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Seedfund:

Seedfund is India’s leading early-stage venture capital fund founded by Pravin Gandhi, Bharati Jacob and Mahesh Murthy on the belief of investing “a little money and a lot of time”. Pravin and Bharati came from a successful stint at Infinity Ventures, where they funded and mentored successes like IndiaGames and IndiaBulls. Mahesh earlier ran Passionfund, where he guided and backed companies like Geodesic, Indiaproperties, Compassbox, EBS and Webdunia.

Seedfund’s focus is on investing in companies that can significantly change the Indian and global markets through innovations in media, mobile, internet, retail and consumer-facing businesses. Seedfund’s investors include Google, Reliance ADA, Motorola and billion dollar US VC funds like Sierra Ventures and Mayfield.

About i2I:

i2I strives to promote plans backed by serious & dedicated teams, which hold the potential to catapult themselves with financial and intellectual support provided by IIMC.

For more details, about the competition log on to http://www.iimcal.ac.in/i2i/home.htm . One may also drop a mail to email.ecell@gmail.com or contact Ankur Gattani at 9830519811

For further information contact:
Ms.Manisha Sharma - 2020 Media
(M) 9892438262 Email:manisha@2020india.com

Our Associates:

Ideawicket.com - Innovation Partner

Indian Angel Network - Associate Partner

IndiaCo Ventures- Exclusive Partner

TiE- Associate Partner

IndianStudentBusinesses.com- Online Resource Partner

Pagalguy.com- Online Media Partner

The Pioneer- Print Media Partner

maxheap.com- Associate Partner

Overnite Express- Logistic Partner

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Excerpts:

Q. How has the Internet changed exam preparation in India?

Well, the internet is playing a significant role in test preparation today. One thing that always changed the learning experience between two students was the delivery, which was totally ‘human-dependent’ and was not standardized. Obviously, one teacher cannot be available at two places at the same time. However, the technology is bringing that level playing field. I would not say hundred per cent, but to a large extent there are many deliverables in the test prep sector now that are standardized, whether a student is in a metro, a tier B-City or a remote place where a good internet access is there. We are trying to make the tests available to these students free of cost in any part of the country.

Q. But why free testing? Where lies the catch?

Online testing has a very simple model. We spent hundreds of man-years in preparing these tests, starting from school programs like test papers for CBSE to Medical, Engineering, MBA, MCA, GRE, GMAT, SAT, Law and UPSC. We are expecting the enrolments on tcyonline.com to cross the 100,000 target soon. I think it makes a good business sense. Many colleges, universities, coaching chains, publishers and corporate houses have started endorsing us. Now, the student is getting the best possible content at the click of a mouse. He can benchmark himself or herself against any peer group worldwide. And, it is available free of cost. Similarly, teachers on our platform want to reach out to students through their content and tutorials, etc. We are banking on our experience in terms of catering to students and helping the tutors/trainers/content developers earn through this platform. So, this is making a wonderful successful chain. That’s how it is helping us.

Q. Your student-teacher single platform is making headlines today. What is in store for teachers?

Oh yes, it’s one of our dream projects, that we have been working on for years. Let me explain it step by step. In every teacher I see, number one, capability to write some type of content. I am talking from the exam preparation standpoint, hence about teachers who are into exam prep. Most of them are quite capable of writing good questions. Two, a majority of them always nourish a dream to become authors. However, there are many pains or hurdles in this, like inaccessible publishers, long selection process from manuscript to the printed work. So, we thought of empowering the teacher, the trainer and the content writer, in a way that even if he/she has written a few tests, a few topics, just one test, or let’s say 25 questions, he/she can come and publish it on our website (www.tcyonline.com). We will try to use it in all the possible areas. For example, an author may feel that his questions may be directly usable for MBA or MCA or GMAT but our experts can help him use this content in as many tests as possible, thereby helping him earn much more than expected. That is the gist of the whole concept. I am sure there are teachers who are waiting to get their work published and we are here to fulfill their dreams of becoming authors.

Q. Don’t you think classroom test preparation will lose its sheen with the advent of modern technology and online test prep?

No, not at all. As I said, there are many aspects of the delivery that can be standardized and made available to all the students in the same fashion. But again, there are some areas that are highly individual-specific and require the physical presence of a teacher in a classroom environment. I think the best thing is the blend of classroom and technology. If an organization is able to give ‘blended learning’ to the students today, that makes the best sense.

Q. What is the scope of franchising in the training industry, especially in test preparation?

There is a lot of scope in franchising today. You would hardly find a brand that is nationally known. If at all there are a couple of names, they are just one product wonders. So, there is a long way to go when we have one single organization that has ten successful programs with clear leadership in each. This is still far from imagination. So, there is a lot of scope for improvement in franchising. In test preparation, as I told earlier, if the organizations can use the technology profusely, they can make their practices and delivery more standardized.

Q. Can you tell us something about education outsourcing or online tutoring to be precise?

We have been amongst the first few players who got into online tutoring. We have trained a couple of thousands of students so far. This year, we have already trained from 750 to 1000 students in the US. Very recently, we have launched an online tutoring program for the K-12 students (US) and test preparation under tcyonline.com. We are now finalizing a few business affiliates there who would be enrolling students on our behalf. It took us around 15-18 months to do research in all the fifty States to know their different State standards and after that the enrolments started going up. Now, many of our students are repeat students.

Q. What are the career opportunities in the education sector today?

Like any other sector, the education sector is also moving towards ‘corporatization’ and getting professionalized. I foresee many structured positions and profiles that would be coming in this sector. Besides teaching, changes would also be in content, research, and delivery mechanisms. Positions can be at three levels—front-end, backend, and the combination of the two. When I am saying front-end it could be teaching, delivery, etc, and when I am saying backend, it could be research around content. We will also have people who would manage education, teachers, content, replication etc. So, we see many opportunities happening. Also, there is a huge reservoir of talent, which has been untapped. For example, TCY would like to involve educated women or retired people, who otherwise are not actively working. There would be ample opportunities for them who can work with us on part-time basis or from their homes using technology.

Q. How do you retain good talent in your organization?

To my mind, talent is the right combination of today’s performance and tomorrow’s performance potential. We spot, empower and reward people who have both these traits. Individuals are not equal and a leader should boldly differentiate between the two and reward accordingly. Sometimes, such decisions are not welcome by many in the organization but I believe a leader is not there to take popular decisions but right decisions as he has to foresee how the organization would look fifty years from now. DNA of an organization is written in the very early days and is very difficult to change later.

Q. Are you going in for external funding to scale up your company?

Yes, we have already been approached by a couple of investors and other funding agencies. We are weighing equity and debt financing. We will see which suits us more. Right now, we have kept both the options open. Why it doesn’t bother us much is because we have been very careful about both top line and bottom-line. While our people are top-line ambitious, they are bottom-line cautious at the same time. So, never ever the company, in any of the financial years, has incurred losses, and we have been profitable year after year. We will choose the right partner. But we don’t want to make a wrong choice in haste.

Q. What about your future plans?

We are pretty ambitious about our three verticals: classroom teaching, online testing, and online tutoring. We are profusely scaling up in these three. For that, we are strengthening our team and adding both experienced and fresher as team members.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Since its modest beginning in 1998, Top Careers & You (TCY) has come a long way. It is relentlessly striving for educational excellence in India and abroad, through various modes of delivery: classroom teaching, online testing, and online tutoring.

The company serves almost all the sections of student community; from K-12 to students preparing for MBA, GMAT, GRE, SAT, TOEFL, LAW etc. TCY is present at 31 locations, and is tying up with more like-minded individuals and businesses, to further extend its footprint across the country.

tcyonline.com is an online initiative for free exam preparation and education networking.

This ‘Bengal Entrepreneurial Talent Search Program’ will be focused in Bengal and shortlist 30 candidates who have entrepreneurial spark on them , out of numerous candidates who will be joining from different parts of Bengal at 9-00 am of 21st January ,2008 (Monday) on Rotary Sadan kolkata. This 30 candidates will have an extensive mentoring session , by non other than , legendary successful entrepreneur Phillip C Holland, founder of Yum-Yum Donuts, a chain of doughnut shops based in California. This would be followed by a 2-day Boot Camp entitled as “Entrepreneur’s life cycle” which will describe the different phases of Entrepreneurship from pre-birth to birth , growth, success and exit on 1-2 February 2008 at the Hotel Oberoi Grand, Kolkata. The camp would provide training and mentoring on how these ‘Entrepreneurial spark’ could be sharpened and translated into a real time entrepreneur. The faculty would be internationally acclaimed persons and successful entrepreneurs.

The National Entrepreneurship Network, with its prominent presence across 291 member institutes across the nation and relationships with corporate leaders, is going to be extensively involved in increasing outreach of the program. According to Miss Laura Parkin, the Executive Director at NEN/Wadhwani foundation, “NEN is delighted to partner with TiE Kolkata, on nurturing the Entrepreneurial spark in Bengal through Bengal Entrepreneurial Talent Search Program(BETSP) followed by “Your Own Business “ and “Entrepreneur’s lifecycle program” which will lead to TiEGer Club Awards . This series of program one after another will create a momentum for “Entrepreneurship in Bengal”

The best ‘entrepreneurial spark’ will be selected by a rigorous procedure of BETSP,starting with the submission of resume and business summary, followed by a ‘MCQ Written Examination’ , GD/Presentation alongwith PI in the front of a eminent jury panel from successful Entrepreneurs of TiE Kolkata.

. The Educational Programs is situated amidst a two day entrepreneurial conference and TiEger Awards ceremony held by the TiE Kolkata. “We want students to give a career option . A Choice . Whether they want to be ‘employed by people’ or ‘employ people’. We’re instituting the TiEger Cub awards for the young aspiring entrepreneurs ‘who have a spark’, from the Bengal region towards improving the entrepreneurial culture in Bengal and the selection for that will happen through the Bengal Entrepreneurial Talent Search Program (BETSP) ” says Shoummo Acharya of President, TiE, Kolkata.

On the base of the participation in this TiE Kolkata’s Education and mentoring programs in 24th January ,2008 (My Own Business) and 1st February,2008 ( Entrepreneurial lifecycle ) there will be 2 people short listed, who would be awarded by TiEGER Club award.

The award will be handed over by Hon’ble Chief Minister, Government of West Bengal, Shri. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on 1st Feb,2008 .

For more details, about Bengal Entrepreneurial Talent Search Program (BETSP) the log on to http://www.tieger.in , http://www.tieger08.blogspot.com

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

If that is the case, then what is the state of startups here in India? One can imagine.

About 18 months ago, a team of professionals, entrepreneurs and investors came together to create a startup entrepreneurship forum, as the silicon valley is very commonly known for, to create a open communication between startup entrepreneurs, the investor community, the media alliances, professionals, small and medium enterprises and with the interests of Merger & Acquisition heads curiously getting involved, under the banner of Proto.in.

Two editions later, and having showcased about 57 companies, with the honor of being the only rendevous point for attracting the highest number of Venture capital firms, Proto.in has grown to become an event that cannot be missed in an entrepreneurs' calendar. The next edition of this gathering, is set on the dates of January 18th and 19th, a week away from now. This is the biggest entrepreneurship-focused meet that happens in India.

Proto.in set out with the agenda of showcasing product companies out of India, to make a statement that India was more than an outsourcing destination. "While the motives and vision haven't changed, much has changed in the ecosystem that we have moved on to focus on so many other activities that are crucial to grow this ecosystem", says Vijay Anand, the founder and brains behind this forum.

The event is a two day agenda, with the first day comprising of some of the veteran and well-versed entrepreneurs sharing with aspiring and on-the-ground founders as to how to bootstrap their ventures, what to expect building a company here in India, the basics of startup legal, and also a series of technology tracks that bring anyone abreast of what is happening across the world in terms of trends and opportunities. "It is crucial to be sharing this knowledge with entrepreneurs to bring up the base-level of hands-on knowledge" says the organizing team that is meticulously planning all the details.

Companies such as Google, Yahoo and Sun Microsystems are the sponsors for the coming edition of the rendevous, with participation from Microsoft, and quite a few very well known companies such as BharatMatrimony, HCL, Wipro etc being participants in the two day event.

All this activity is being silently planned in Chennai, which sees its last event, and have become a full-blown movement that it is all set to go national starting in June when the next edition is planned in the capital, hoping to reach new heights. "With support from organizations such as NEN, IAMAI, NASSCOM, TiE, this is very much the grass-root level interaction that we were in dire need of, and strongly believe will define the indian silicon valley, if I can say so", says Vijay.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

For more information about Proto.in visit www.proto.in

Contact Details:
Vijay Anand
vijay@proto.in
+91 9894191373

“Deeya’s application of its proprietary L-Cell technology to create high-performance, low-cost energy storage solutions is among the most promising developments to date within the clean tech industry,” said Mr. Viswanathan. “Power availability and quality will be increasingly important global issues, particularly critical in developing regions, and Deeya has an opportunity to address a broad range of market opportunities within that space.”

Deeya L-Cells offer superior charging and discharging performance compared to other batteries and are significantly cheaper. The life time of a Deeya L-Cell is 7 years, after which it can be refurbished and recycled with minimal cost. L-Cells are estimated to be cost-competitive with lead-acid batteries, and about 10-20 times cheaper than NiMH, Li-lon and Fuel Cell options. Additionally, L-Cells contain environmentally benign materials and are infinitely recyclable, as opposed to the kinds of materials used in other batteries, such as lead-acid. The initial focus of the company is the Indian telecom infrastructure market.

“We are pleased to have NEA’s support as we advance our efforts to deliver a breakthrough energy storage solution,” said Saroj Sahu, Deeya’s Founder and Chief Technology Officer. “The firm’s energy industry and business expertise, and expanding global presence, will be a tremendous asset as we develop and manufacture innovative products to address needs across several key industries, including peak-off-peak load shifting, renewable energy and uninterruptible power supplies.”

“Deeya’s current focus is to be the supplier of choice to telecom operators in India with our innovative flow battery solution for cell phone tower energy back-up applications,” said Vic Mahadevan, CEO of Deeya Energy. “This will allow the telecom operators to expand their market rapidly by deep penetration into India’s villages with a cost effective and high performance energy storage platform.”

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

New Enterprise Associates (NEA) is a leading venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs create and build major new enterprises that use technology to improve the way we live, work and play. Since its founding in 1978, the firm has followed the same core principles: supporting its entrepreneurs, providing an excellent return to its limited partners, and practicing its profession with the highest standards and respect. NEA focuses on investments at all stages of a company’s development, from seed stage through IPO. With approximately $8.5 billion in committed capital, NEA’s experienced management team has invested in over 550 companies, of which more than 160 have gone public and more than 230 have been acquired. NEA has U.S. offices in Chevy Chase, Maryland; Menlo Park, California; and Baltimore, Maryland. In addition, New Enterprise Associates (India) Pvt. Ltd. has an office in Bangalore, India and New Enterprise Associates (Beijing) Ltd. has offices in Beijing and Shanghai, China. For additional information, visit www.nea.com.

1. Stoke was started in 2004 and enables telecom operators to deliver concurrent, multimedia subscriber experiences within and across fixed, cellular, Wi-Fi and WiMAX access networks via a single integrated solution. These experiences would include video, music, gaming, location, voice and data services.
2. Stoke's platform is the industry's first multi-access convergence gateway designed from inception to solve the security, quality of service and mobility challenges associated with optimizing subscriber sessions within and across different broadband access alternatives.
3. The co-investors along with Reliance Technology Ventures Ltd include existing investors namely Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Sequoia Capital, Integral Capital Partners and DAG Ventures.

According to Harshal J Shah, CEO of RTVL, “Stoke’s technology is a strong enabler of fixed-mobile convergence applications. Stoke provides highly versatile and innovative, carrier-class solutions specifically engineered to help operators realize the economic benefits and competitive advantages of network convergence. Its multi-access convergence gateway enables enhanced service creation and billing lets operators unlock all of the value in their diverse access networks.”

“This investment from RTVL is a testament to the strength and promise of Stoke and our solution in helping global operators transition to the next generation network edge,” said Vikash Varma, President and CEO, Stoke Inc. “Reliance Communications is illustrative of today’s successful communications providers, combining forward thinking on network evolution and global ambitions and seeing fantastic results. We are very pleased to be working with Reliance ADA Group.”

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Reliance Technology Ventures Limited

RTVL has advised and / or invested in deals to the tune of over $1 billion. Yatra.com, India’s largest on-line travel portal, E-Band Communications Corporation, Seedfund are some of its portfolio investments. RTVL has also led the investment into an undisclosed technology company which formed the basis of the largest venture capital transaction in India. RTVL invests in leading edge technologies, disruptive business models and technology-enabled companies around the world.

About Stoke, Inc.

Santa Clara, CA-based Stoke develops carrier-class multi-access convergence gateways specifically engineered to help fixed, mobile and Internet-based operators realize the economic benefits and competitive advantages of network convergence. Stoke's standards-based, integrated hardware and software platform - the Stoke Session Exchange (SSX) - uniquely addresses the security, quality of service and mobility challenges associated with optimizing subscribers' multimedia sessions across fixed, mobile, WiFi and WiMAX networks. Stoke has received more than $50 million in funding from leading venture capital firms Reliance Technology Ventures Limited, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Sequoia Capital, and DAG Ventures, among others.

1. EBCC was started in 2003 to develop ultra-high capacity wireless communications systems for the 70/80 GHz E-band spectrum, recently licensed by the US Federal Communications Commission for commercial communications.

2. EBCC has an exclusive license agreement to co-develop products and communication systems around this technology, with the $30 billion Northrop Grumman Corporation, one of the world’s largest defense, aerospace and technology companies.

3. EBCC’s technology enables the highest possible wireless transmission speeds ranging from 1 Gigabit per second up to 10 Gigabits per second.

4. The funding round includes existing investors namely ADC and one of the largest US telecom companies along with Reliance Technology Ventures Ltd., Investec and Hercules Technology Growth Capital.

According to Harshal J Shah, CEO of RTVL, EBCC’s technology is a strong enabler of bandwidth intensive applications. "EBCC provides wireless last mile access and backhaul which is complementary to 4G, WiMAX, distributed antenna systems (DAS) and remote radio heads (RRH), with much greater flexibility than traditional terrestrial networks, and the speed and cost effectiveness of wireless deployment.”

As per Sam Smookler, CEO of EBCC, "EBCC not only has the industry’s leading technology but has brought together a world-class management and engineering team to cater to the ultra-high capacity wireless needs of customers. We are happy to be having RTVL as the lead investor. We see this as a beginning to a fruitful association with the Reliance ADA Group.”

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Reliance Technology Ventures Limited

RTVL has advised and / or invested in deals to the tune of over $1 billion. Yatra.com, India’s largest on-line travel portal is one of its portfolio companies. RTVL has also led the investment into an undisclosed technology company which formed the basis of the largest venture capital transaction in India. RTVL invests in leading edge technologies, disruptive business models and technology-enabled companies around the world.

In Saudi Arabia, the contract, to be completed in 22 months, is for the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (MA’ADEN). It is a turnkey job of 380 KV double circuit transmission lines of 123 kms. length connecting Saudi Arabia Electricity Company’s substation to MA'ADEN Power Plant Site at Ras Az Zawr. KEC had earlier won a project in Saudi Arabia worth Rs 95 crores in June 2007.

In Namibia, KEC has been awarded a turnkey job of 350 KV double circuit bipolar HVDC transmission line of 306 kms. from Bagani to Zambezi for NAMPOWER. This project has a completion period of 22 months.

“Both these orders are very significant for KEC. The Saudi Arabian contract is from a mining company which marks an expansion of our client base from the current clientele which largely comprises of utilities”, said Ramesh Chandak, Managing Director, KEC International Ltd. “The turnkey job in Namibia along with a tower supply order obtained earlier in South Africa, marks our full-fledged entry into the South African Development Council (SADC) market. With this entry, KEC can now boast of complete geographical coverage of the African continent”, he continued.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About KEC International

KEC International Ltd. is a global leader in the power transmission engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) business. With global operations spanning over 15 countries, the company is present in UAE, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Zambia and Ethiopia among several other countries. KEC is the flagship company in the transmission sector of the Rs. 11,500 crore RPG Group.

For further information, please contact:

Kiran Bhatia:

Ph: Board +91 22 6667200 Extn: 311; Mobile +91 9892633446; e-mail: bhatiakh@kecrpg.com

“The problem in the booming organized retail sector in India can be summarized as: High Footfall-Low Conversion. We are adopting an innovative strategy to help solve this problem,” says Jasper CEO, Kunal Bahl. “Given our strong management team, and leading consumer centric companies as our partners, these funds will further strengthen Jasper’s operations. These are exciting times for our company as we continue to grow rapidly.”

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Jasper is a company that thrives on identifying simple solutions to inefficiencies in the consumer products/services industry. Jasper is led by a strong management team of IIT, IIM, Wharton Business School alumni with successful entrepreneurial experiences as well as exposure to Fortune 500 companies, such as Microsoft, Capital One, ABN Amro, Deloitte Consulting, across the US, Europe and India.

Myntra launched its beta website www.myntra.com in May this year and has undertaken various initiatives to significantly enhance its operational capabilities and online user experience. Myntra now has a fast-growing designer community which has enabled it to publish thousands of unique designs on its website. The company was self funded until now and has built the basic foundation before procuring external funding in this round.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Myntra Designs is an online marketplace for on-demand consumer products where people can easily find and create unique, personalized and creative merchandise like T-Shirts, Mugs, Calendars, Keychains, Diaries and other items. They have various customization tools, easily navigable user interface and a vibrant community of designers which enables them to provide a one-of-its-kind offering in India. Myntra’s core team comprises of 5 IIT/ IIM graduates with extensive experience in building software products in multiple domains. A large number of them have worked for start-ups in bay area and India.

SneakCast is a video search engine with a different algorithm behind it. The efficiency of searching through a huge database is excellent. The company goes head on with players already in the industry such as Blinkx (BLNX.L), Truveo and Dabble. The creators of SneakCast boast of the most powerful algorithm under its hood and have the guts to compare itself to Google.

“We have been testing and re-testing every single part of our home grown algorithm to make it rock solid, this is what we have finally attained.” said Utkarsh Sinha Founder and CTO. The search engine company is poised to take advantage of the booming streaming media market and the increasing broadband connections.

SneakCast is different from its competitors because it ranks its search results by a combination of factors such relevancy, popularity to name a few. The team at SneakCast has several other features in pipeline and will be released with time, in order to suit the user’s search pattern. “We are all open to our users, we are not hiding any information from them and they have the right to question every move we make. This is because we keep our users before ourselves.” said Mr.Sinha.

The company was has been bootstrapping from the start and is currently seeking funding from VC’s and angel investors. Hence, a video search engine strong at its core and its ethics is all set to lure users and customers alike from all over the world.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

SneakCast.com – the company was formed in April 2007 on the sole concept of media for online viewers with a twist. Its foundation is based on a core engine developed by the company to drastically enhance its user’s search experience. Hence, the company developed a unique way of providing and allowing its users around the globe to enjoy online media content at its best. As the multimedia search engine industry is still in its developing phase, SneakCast.com has made its top priority to enter early in the market and capture a major share in the internet community, hence strengthening its foothold for future developments/expansion. A strong support from our technical team and the management will help the company to penetrate Indian and the global markets.

“We are delighted to be partnering with Novatium Solutions and are confident that it will significantly help drive computing and broadband penetration in India. Our focus is on working with India’s best and brightest entrepreneurs and Novatium is a company poised to take India to a world leadership position in its category,” said Mr. Mathias.

“Novatium’s innovative technology platform offers users a secure, low-maintenance computing experience,” said Mr. Kolluri. “This approach, featuring plug-and-play functionality and minimal exposure to system upgrades, is novel not only in terms of the reduced cost of ownership to users, but in the efficient, simple delivery of a wide range of computing solutions.”

Novatium delivers computing to the home with a 'thin' network computing device that moves complexity to the central server, providing the user with appliance-like simplicity. The unique concept offers complete computing capability at Rs 500 per month inclusive of Internet access, hardware, software, virus protection, maintenance and minimal electricity consumption.

"NEA brings significant depth of expertise in this industry and we look forward to the firm’s support as we pursue our goal of providing computing to the next billion in an innovative and cost-effective manner,” said Alok Singh, CEO of Novatium Solutions. “In an era of growing connectivity, taking computing to the masses will have an incremental impact on society far beyond an economic one. The Nova NetPC is a very simple and user-friendly device that will enable access to computing for the masses.”

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

New Enterprise Associates (NEA) is a leading venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs create and build major new enterprises that use technology to improve the way we live, work and play. Since its founding in 1978, the firm has followed the same core principles: supporting its entrepreneurs, providing an excellent return to its limited partners and practicing its profession with the highest standards and respect. NEA focuses on investments at all stages of a company’s development, from seed-stage through IPO. With approximately $8.5 billion in committed capital, NEA’s experienced management team has invested in over 550 companies, of which more than 155 have gone public and more than 220 have been acquired. NEA has US offices in Reston, Virginia, Menlo Park, California and Baltimore, Maryland. In addition, New Enterprise Associates (India) Pvt. Ltd. has an office in Bangalore, India and New Enterprise Associates (Beijing) Ltd. has offices in Beijing and Shanghai China. For additional information, visit www.nea.com.

Patrick has a rich experience as a consultant, entrepreneur, and executive to a variety of established and start-up high technology companies in the Internet, clean technology, life science and transportation industries.

Chandramouli, President & CEO, Autoindia.com, said, "I am pleased to have Patrick on board to advise us on our new initiatives and strategies. He brings with him years of rich experience with Automotive Internet businesses that will help build this vital component of our integrated business model. I am confident that, with his guidance, Autoindia.com will further strengthen its position as the portal of choice in the Automotive vertical and help us to see growth in users, new services, revenues and leadership".

Patrick Stanton, Advisor, Autoindia.com said, "I am very excited by this opportunity to be a part of Autoindia.com which is India’s pre eminent Automotive portal. This is a great time to be in India, where the Automobile sector is seeing consistent double digit growth and internet penetration is growing by leaps and bounds.

I look forward to applying my experience from the US Automotive online companies in helping Autoindia.com in its exponential growth phase”.

As Vice President, Business Development for Dealix Corporation (since acquired by The Cobalt Group), Patrick was part of the early executive team that built Dealix into one of the web's most successful automotive Internet marketing organizations. A prolific dealmaker, Patrick built strategic alliances with some of the industry’s most well known brands including, Yahoo!, Microsoft, AOL, General Motors, and Ford. Prior to Dealix, Patrick enjoyed similar success while running enterprise sales and affiliate marketing for Autoweb.com (acquired by Autobytel) as vice president, business development.

Patrick is a founder and the corporate development chair of the California Clean Tech Open, the world’s largest business plan competition to promote the commercialization of clean technologies. Additionally, Patrick recently founded angel investment and advisory group, Chobe Group, LLC, to bring best practices in automobile retailing to emerging markets, notably in India and the People’s Republic of China.

Patrick began his career as a consultant with Accenture. Patrick holds a BA in geography from the University of Colorado, Boulder and an MBA in finance and economics from Columbia Business School.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Autoindia.com:

Autoindia.com is the leader in the Indian Automotive online space. With more than 12 million page views and 1.5 million unique visitors Autoindia ranks No.1 among Autoportals in India. AutoIndia.com Ranks as one of the Top 10 Most visited website in India Business and Economy section. AutoIndia.com Ranks among the Top 50 Most visited websites from India.

AutoIndia.com is the fastest-growing automotive marketplace for buyers, dealers and private-party sellers.Autoindia offers the best selection of new and used vehicles online, as well as the content, tools and advice to support the shopping experience. AutoIndia.com is headquartered in Technopark, Trivandrum.

For more information about Autoindia, visit www.Autoindia.com

According to Saul Klein, founder of Seedcamp, “The aim of Seedcamp is to reduce the time it takes start ups to make and develop critical relationships and establish an unrivalled foundation on which the business can be built. With more than 50 mentors who are successful entrepreneurs, legal and HR experts, corporates, venture capitalists, recruiters, marketing gurus, accountants, and product experts - Seedcamp is a great launch pad for young companies like Content Syndicate.”

Speaking on the successful selection, Maddy Reddy, 29, Founder & CEO of Content Syndicate said, "It is a great opportunity for us to showcase our unique content platform to the investor panel and business community at Seedcamp. It also proves that with a solid technology that addresses a serious business need, you can stand-out.”

Currently Content Syndicate’s innovative Words on Demand® platform helps content providers and buyers from across the world to commission, distribute, buy and sell content that’s exclusive, customised and personalised for their unique requirements in 218 languages.

The Seedcamp initiative received an overwhelming response from 260 companies from 40 countries around the world from Finland, Russia, Austria, Cyprus, Romania, UAE, Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Singapore, Turkey, Spain, Poland, Germany, France, Italy, Portugal, Denmark,Croatia, Uruguay, Malaysia, Hungary, Serbia, Lithuania, Switzerland, Ecuador, India, Latvia, Netherlands, Germany, South Africa, Norway, Belgium, China, Argentina, Bulgaria, UK and the US.

From the entire list 20 were drilled down based on business capability, innovation and potential. Content Syndicate has the distinction of being a strongest contender from the Middle East region. After a gruelling and intensive pre-selection process, the judges were impressed with Content Syndicate's unique business model.

Seedcamp is endorsed and backed by leading European investors and entrepreneurs. For more information and a full list of Seedcamp supporters, visit www.seedcamp.com.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Content Syndicate:

Content Syndicate’s innovative Words on Demand® platform helps content providers and buyers to commission, distribute, buy and sell content, that’s exclusive, customised and personalised for their unique requirements. Extending beyond English, Content Syndicate’s click-and-mortar business offers a range of quality content services in more than 218 languages to businesses and individuals.

With the motto ‘content is not a commodity’, Content Syndicate is working on its vision to offer content services across platforms, media and languages. Founded in late 2006 by Maddy Reddy, CS is incorporated as independent entities in the US, UK, UAE and India.

*For additional information, high-resolution images and resources: www.contentsyndicate.com

#Content Syndicate, Words on Demand, its design, logo, moniker are trademarks of Content Syndicate in the United States and/or other countries. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Mr. Shah has been instrumental in the investments into Yatra, which is now India's largest online travel consolidator, Seedfund, and an unnamed company which formed the basis of the largest venture capital transaction in India. He serves on the boards of Yatra Online Pvt. Ltd., Telsima Corporation, Setco Automotive Ltd. (listed on Bombay Stock Exchange) and Reliance Venture Asset Management Ltd.

Mr. Shah was a Truman Gray Scholar at MIT from which he has two Bachelors' degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Management. He also has an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Reliance Technology Ventures

As the worlds of computing and communications expand and converge, Reliance ADA Group’s horizons are constantly broadening. Reliance Technology Ventures was incubated by the Group to leverage emerging technologies and markets and look ahead at future possibilities to enrich the Group’s eco-system. Reliance Technology Ventures Limited has an investment mandate to incubate new business ideas and invest in emerging and high-growth technologies.

Investment Strategy

With an overall strategy to enable innovation, Reliance Technology Ventures seeks out and invests in promising technology, media and telecom (TMT) companies worldwide in various stages of their lifecycle. The focus is both - on established and new technologies - that advance the computing, communications, media & convergence platforms.

RTVL believes that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and that in a rapidly-changing knowledge economy, organizations can prosper only by mobilizing diverse competencies, skill sets and expertise; by imbibing the spirit of “thinking together.” To further this belief, the company seeks to create an ecosystem whereby it not only maximizes investor returns but also provides an ecosystem for the growth of its investee companies.

RTVL helps build companies by leveraging the Group’s worldwide customer base, technological knowledge, access to capital and the power of the Reliance ADA brand. While financial return is imperative, RTVL’s greater mission is to spur innovation and inspire the entrepreneurial spirit to thrive.

The Group Factor – Unparalleled Leverage

As part of Reliance ADA Group, Reliance Technology Ventures has the ability to draw upon the best and brightest talent from within the eco-system to evaluate prospective investments, offer business and technology guidance to their portfolio companies and provide unrivaled access to the latest developments in the industry.

The value of the access that RTVL’s portfolio companies have to the Reliance ADA Group companies is priceless. From insights into best practices, business models, and processes to access to senior management and internal customers to the chance to work with the Group’s businesses to drive the development of solutions to solve problems for their customers, the portfolio companies can call on the vast resources of the Reliance ADA Group.

The Team

The RTVL team comprises professionals who bring over 50 years of cumulative experience and have a strong academic base (MBAs – Ivy League, Technologists from premier Indian & International Universities & Chartered Accountants). The team has extensive and proven experience in operations, finance, technology, marketing & M&A and investment knowledge with top corporate brands like TATA, Mahindra, Reliance, international consulting firms like IBM, Anderson Consulting (now Accenture), PricewaterhouseCoopers, & Private Equity/ VC firms.

Connections

RTVL has strategic relationships with other potential sources of financing, allowing portfolio companies to benefit from complementary relationships with other venture capitalists and other corporate investors (including Group Companies).

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Reliance Technology Ventures Limited has an investment mandate to incubate new business ideas and invest in emerging and high-growth technologies. It seeks out and invests in promising technology (IT, ITES, hardware and semiconductors), media & entertainment, and telecom (TMT) companies worldwide. Its investments focus is on established and new technologies that advance the computing, communications, media and convergence platforms. RTVL aims to create an ecosystem which not only maximizes investor returns but also provides a fertile environment for the growth of the investee companies. RTVL has advised and/or invested in deals to the tune of over $600 million

About Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group

The Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (Reliance ADA Group) is among India’s top three private sector business houses. With a market capitalisation of over US$ 40 billion, net assets in excess of US$ 12 billion and net worth of over US$ 10 billion, Reliance-ADA Group has interests in varied sectors ranging from communications (Reliance Communications), financial services (Reliance Capital Ltd), power generation, transmission and distribution (Reliance Energy), natural resources (Reliance Natural Resources), infrastructure, media & entertainment and health care.

Across different companies, the group has a customer base of over 50 million, the largest in India, and a shareholder base of over 8 million, the largest in the world.

The Reliance ADA Group has a business presence that extends to over 8,000 towns and 300,000 villages in India, and 5 continents across the world.

For Further Information, please contact:
Raksha Singh
Tel: +91.22.30327039 / +91.22.30327000
Fax: +91.22.22847199
E-mail: raksha.singh@relianceada.com
www.rtvl.co.in

Several other international companies including: Embraer from Brazil, Boeing and Honeywell from USA, Bombardier from Canada, as well the technology providers such as the SME's and university laboratories, are expected to join the working Group and the collaborative project: Fly-by-Wireless for Aerospace Vehicles.

CANEUS will spearhead the implementation of international cooperative efforts for administering the International Working Group and the mutually identified collaborative pilot projects. Following the Paris Air Show meeting, CANEUS will work to determine the composition, schedule, and scope of these joint project activities in consultation with NASA, EADS and other partners.

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CANEUS is an international organization focused primarily on transitioning Micro-Nano-Technologies into aerospace applications in a rapid and cost-effective manner. CANEUS brings together MNT developers, aerospace end-users, governmental policy makers and investors from across the world. CANEUS provides a platform for coordinated investment and collaborative development of aerospace MNT by identifying and nurturing complementary core competencies.

The funding from Canbank will accelerate Iteamic’s expansion plans and augment its infrastructure, R&D and sales and marketing initiatives.

Iteamic founder and CEO Raghurama Kote said: “After a significant amount of interest shown by various investors we are delighted to be partnering with Canbank Ventures and with this new partnership we have the collective experience to sustain and grow our market share and augment our global penetration. We will aggressively further innovations by enhancing the current range of our service offerings.”

Iteamic provides compelling solutions to meet business challenges through consultative services spanning - application management solutions, product collaborative development and dedicated offshore development centers for global clients. “In the curent scenario, focussing on niche segments is the way for small and medium enterprises. Our advantage is that we understand their language and can, hence, provide better solutions,” Mr Kote pointed out.

On partnering with Iteamic, Mr.N.Ramani, Managing Director Canbank Ventures said, “We have been very impressed with Iteamic’s team and the rate at which they have been growing. With their core domain expertise coupled with their service offerings, Iteamic could become one of the most valuable companies in the very near future. Canbank Ventures is excited to be a partner in Iteamic's continued growth and looks forward to assist them to become pioneers in this segment globally”.

Canbank Venture Capital Fund Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canara Bank and is among the earliest Venture Capital Fund management companies in India. Canbank Ventures currently manages four funds.

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Iteamic is an SEI CMMi Level 3, IT service provider headquartered in Bangalore with its corporate offices in San Francisco & New York. With its recently opened office in New York, Iteamic has increased market reach into financial services industry vertical. Iteamic works directly with medium sized Financial Services firms, apart from working with some well funded start-ups in the Silicon Valley.

Currently Iteamic caters to marquee Clients in the Financial Services, Banking and Insurance segment as Tier-1 vendor by leveraging its domain and vast technology experience in both niche proprietary and open-source technologies. Since its inception in 2003, Iteamic has grown from 4 to 200 plus professionals and has achieved a consistent 100% year on year growth. Iteamic is among the very few players in the country in this segment of the market.

“We are excited to partner with NEA-IUV in the backing of ISGN and their industry leading team,” said Mark Perry, NEA General Partner and newly appointed ISGN board member. “With operations in both India and the US, ISGN is a highly-competitive technology-enabled KPO with deep mortgage expertise serving a broad range of lenders with a full suite of complementary products and services. We look forward to this venture and ISGN’s continued success.”

"Over the next decade, the IndianITservices industry will increasingly move up the value chain by providing value added KPO services to the world.This will entail the use of new technology platformsto improve efficiencies and scale. We are excitedto bean investor inISGN foritsleadership in demonstrating such value through its singular focus in the Mortgage financing sector," said Vinod Dham, Executive Managing Director of NEA-IndoUS Ventures and newly appointed ISGN board member.

ISGN provides technology solutions, advisory services and KPO to lenders that originate and refinance in the US each year. ISGN holds an 18% market share and initiates approximately $500 billion worth of loans through its various platforms in the residential and construction lending space. It also connects, by way of the BridgeLink vendor network and Plug in partner network, third party vendor services.

In addition to Mark Perry and Vinod Dham, Ravi Viswanathan, NEA Partner, will join the ISGN Board of Directors.

“We are very pleased to have the overwhelming support of NEA and NEA-IUV,” said Krishna Srinivasan, ISGN CEO. “Their deep industry knowledge and extensive capital base will further enhance our market share and provide for additional resources. Coupled with financial backing from the K.K. Birla Group, we are positioned to leverage our technology-enabled KPO model, offering a distinct combination of technology and services.”

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

New Enterprise Associates (NEA) is a leading venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs create and build major new enterprises that use technology to improve the way we live, work and play. Since its founding in 1978, the firm has followed the same core principles: supporting its entrepreneurs, providing an excellent return to its limited partners and practicing its profession with the highest standards and respect. NEA focuses on investments at all stages of a company’s development, from seed-stage through IPO. With approximately $8.5 billion in committed capital, NEA’s experienced management team has invested in over 550 companies, of which more than 155 have gone public and more than 220 have been acquired. NEA has US offices in Reston, Virginia, Menlo Park, California and Baltimore, Maryland. In addition, New Enterprise Associates (India) Pvt. Ltd. has an office in Bangalore, India and New Enterprise Associates (Beijing) Ltd. has offices in Beijing and Shanghai China. For additional information, visit www.nea.com.

"We are very pleased to have received this significant investment from NEA IndoUS Ventures.”, said Vinay Gupta, Chief Executive Officer, Via. “As we move forward in expanding ourselves beyond airline services, the new brand will help our customers identify with us better. Today, we provide the widest network of travel agents and ticketing channels such as SMS booking, kiosks, agents, online, etc to our customers in India. We will continue to use our path-breaking technology to understand their needs better and service them efficiently. It is extremely important to bridge the demand supply gap in the travel industry by balancing cost and time.”

Niranjan Gupta, Chief Operating Officer, Via said, "This investment is a testimony of the range of our services and customer satisfaction. We are currently issuing over 4000 tickets on a daily basis and this number is growing rapidly. We will continue to deliver innovative solutions to meet customer needs in the most cost effective way. The underlining basis of our growth would always be customer satisfaction, transparency and ease of use.”

Speaking on the occasion, Vani Kola, Managing Director, NEA-IndoUS Ventures, who has joined VIA’s Board of Directors, said “VIA is a pioneer in the travel industry. The company possesses a unique and compelling business model that reflects in its excellent track record. The travel industry has immense potential to grow in India and VIA is quite capable of capturing the market with the rich experience of its founding members. This funding is an important step towards our mission to support new ventures and innovative ideas."

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About VIA

VIA (formerly known as FlightRaja), established in 2006 and profitable since then, is a full service travel company and has been defining new paradigms in the travel industry. It is founded by a team of engineers including Vinay Gupta, Amit Aggarwal, Rohit Gaddi, Harsh Azad Niranjan Gupta and industry veterans including Niranjan Gupta and Ashwini Kakkar. The company has played a significant role in empowering travel agents all over the country with instant ticketing solutions. The company’s travel network is spread across 290 cities with over 3000 agents. The company has the widest network in India today.

The investment of venture capitalists in Indian industries in the first half of 2006 is $3 billion and is expected to reach $7.0 billion at the end of 2007. We have general feeling that Indian venture capital arena is somewhat boring. Why don’t we see hundreds of Indian web 2.0 startups?

Early Days
In the absence of an organised Venture Capital industry until almost 1995, individual investors and development financial institutions played the role of venture capitalists in India. Entrepreneurs have largely depended upon private placements, public offerings and lending by the financial institutions. In 1973 a committee on Development of Small and Medium Enterprises highlighted the need to foster venture capital as a source of funding new entrepreneurs and technology. Thereafter some public sector funds were set up but the activity of venture capital did not gather momentum as the thrust was on high-technology projects funded on a purely financial rather than a holistic basis.

Regulatory Guidelines & Framework
Later, a study was undertaken by the World Bank to examine the possibility of developing Venture Capital in the private sector, based on which the Government of India took a policy initiative and announced guidelines for Venture Capital Funds (VCFs) in India in 1988.
However, these guidelines restricted setting up of VCFs by the banks or the financial institutions only. Thereafter, the Government of India issued guidelines in September 1995 for overseas investment in Venture Capital in India. For tax-exemption purposes, guidelines were also issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the investments and flow of foreign currency into and out of India have been governed by the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) requirements. Further, as a part of its mandate to regulate and to develop the Indian capital markets, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) framed the SEBI (Venture Capital Funds) Regulations, 1996. These guidelines were further amended in April 2000 with the objective of fuelling the growth of Venture Capital activities in India.

Industry Size, Activity and Participants
Pursuant to the regulatory framework mentioned above, some domestic VCFs were registered with SEBI. Some overseas investment has also come through the Mauritius route. However, the venture capital industry, understood globally as “independently managed, dedicated pools of capital that focus on equity or equity-linked investments in privately held, high-growth companies”, is relatively in a nascent stage in India. Figures from the Indian Venture Capital Association (IVCA) show that, till 1998, around Rs. 30 billion had been committed by domestic VCFs and offshore funds which are members of IVC]. Figures available from private sources indicate that overall funds committed are around US$ 1.3 billion. I