In keeping with its core business of venture capital funding, IFCI Venture Capital Funds Limited (IVCF), a subsidiary of IFCI on Monday announced the launch of three new funds aimed at the emerging sectors of the economy. The funds being launched are India Automotive Component Manufacturers Private Equity Fund with a target corpus of Euro 60 million or Rs 396 crores. It will be dedicated to investments mainly in Indian automotive component companies and other related sectors. The next one is the India Enterprise Development Fund (IEDF), with a target corpus of Rs 250 crores to invest in knowledge based projects in key sectors of the Indian economy with outstanding growth prospects.   more »

Canaan Partners, the 20-year-old global venture capital (VC) fund with $3 billion under management, will channel a bigger share of money from its latest global fund towards investments in the country. The investments would be mainly directed towards technology ventures, Canaan Partners India MD Alok Mittal said. The VC firm recently raised a $650-million global fund and about a quarter of it will be dedicated for investments in India and Israel. It is estimated that around $150 million will be invested in India over the next three years. Around 5-10% of its previous $450 million was dedicated to India and Israel. Canaan has invested in five companies in India—e4e, Bharatmatrimony, Cellcast, iYogi and TechTribe—since foraying into the country in 2000.   more »

San Francisco-based venture capital (VC) firm Walden International – better known for its investment in Bangalore-based IT firm Mindtree Consulting – is re-entering India after a five-year-long hiatus. It has appointed Rajesh Subramaniam, the erstwhile Chief Financial Officer of BPO firm Firstsource Solutions, as Managing Director (for India) – reflecting the increasing demand from the VC industry for senior officials with operational knowledge from diverse industries. Walden is looking at making sector agnostic ‘early to expansion stage’ investments in start-ups that have a scalable business model, Subramaniam told Business Line. “The growing pace of domestic consumption of products and services in India is prompting Walden to commit serious capital and time to India,” said Subramaniam. Founded in 1987, Walden has over $ 1.6 billion (Rs 672 crore) in committed capital.   more »

UK government-backed private equity emerging markets fund of funds manager CDC Group has made new commitments totalling $250m to three funds focused on infrastructure and real estate investment in India. The funds are expected to raise a total of $1.6bn for investment. CDC has committed $100m to both the IDFC India Infrastructure Fund and the Actis India Real Estate Fund. The IDFC fund will invest between $15m and $75m in infrastructure projects in the energy, transportation and telecoms sectors. The fund will be managed by IDFC Project Equity, a newly established subsidiary of IDFC.   more »

ICICI Venture Fund Management is planning to list its $1.5 billion real estate fund on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). According to sources, the fund house will be providing the flexibility in the document to list the realty fund anytime during its life span. When contacted, an official spokesperson for ICICI Ventures offered no comments. At present, the fund house is in the process of preparing the documents for both its real estate and private equity (PE) funds. This is the first time that the country's largest PE fund is providing this option in its fund. "Internationally, private equities look at listing their funds. If it's a close-ended fund, investors have to wait till its maturity. However, if the listing option is built into the document, then the PE fund can exercise it at any future date," said a senior executive of a large domestic PE fund.   more »

The already crowded venture capital industry in India got a new member with a team of investors led by Kanwal Rekhi, a Silicon Valley based entrepreneur and mentor, launching a US-India venture fund Inventus Capital Partners on Tuesday. With a corpus of $125 million, mainly raised from global institutional investors and the founding members, the venture fund aims at investing in at least 15-20 early-growth companies over the next three years. The VC firm intends to invest $1-10 million in companies in software product, services, Internet, mobile and other high growth technology sectors, in syndication with another venture firm. To start with, Inventus Capital has participated in a $3.5 million institutional round raised by a Silicon Valley based IT firm with its development centre in Bangalore. Inventus is leading the round with $2 million investment, an announcement to which will be made in few days, Rekhi told reporters in Bangalore. Besides, the company is in advance stage of talks with a Bangalore based firm for funding, which is expected to be in the range of $2-3 million.   more »

Franklin Templeton, the global financial powerhouse, has raised an India-focused, Rs 600-crore private equity (PE) fund. The fund is unique as it has been almost entirely raised from HNIs (high networth individuals) in India within two months flat. This is an indication of where HNIs are parking their money in a bearish stock market, where companies are struggling to pull their IPOs through. The fund, Franklin Templeton Private Equity Strategy, will focus on investing in unlisted companies in infrastructure services, manufacturing and consumer-driven sectors. While the company did not comment on the corpus of the fund, Vivek Kudva, president, Franklin Templeton Investments (India), said: "We had launched Franklin Templeton Private Equity Strategy in April for Indian investors, focusing on unlisted companies in infrastructure services, manufacturing and consumer-driven sectors."   more »

Sasken Communication Technologies, the Bangalore-based Rs 570 crore embedded communication solutions provider, is taking the limited partner route to enter the venture capital segment. The company during the last quarter made an undisclosed investment in US-based technology venture capital firm OmniCapital. This venture fund is led by Arun Netravali, who was earlier president of Bell Laboratories, the place where path-breaking communication technologies took shape. Sasken, chairman & managing director, Rajiv C Mody in a statement to their shareholders said: "Sasken has invested in OmniCapital, a US-based venture capital fund that provides early-stage funding for information technology companies in the US. The investment in OmniCapital augments Sasken's access to the US market, providing another window into the latest technology, industry developments and new markets in information technology, telecommunications, video and multimedia." Mody goes on to state that the investment also provides opportunities for mutually-beneficial strategic partnership with OmniCapital portfolio companies.   more »

India Rizing Fund, a first of its kind venture fund for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) making defence equipment, has received the approval from FIPB and the government to kick off its plans to raise Rs 550 crore with subscriptions from foreign investors. The Mumbai-based fund, which is promoted by the former director and India head (specialist finance) at ANZ Investment Bank, Rajesh Narayan, plans to raise $100 million (Rs 400 crore) initially, keeping provisions to scale up investments by $200 million (Rs 800 crore). It has a 10-year duration, with an option to increase it by four more years. "Our first closing is likely to be in October and the final closing by December this year," Mr Narayan told ET. More such funds may be created in the future for investment into the Indian defence production sector. The fund is close to tying up with about six foreign investors in their bid to raise money.   more »

Dutch financial services conglomerate ING Groep NV, among the top 20 companies in the world based on market capital, is looking to buy an established private equity, or PE, fund house in India, according to a company executive familiar with the development. New Delhi-based Avigo Capital Partners, a PE fund manger with a focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs), is a potential candidate, this person said, asking not to be named as the target is not finalized yet. “We are looking to buy out a PE fund house or acquire strategic equity stake in one of them,” the ING executive said. The deal is being explored from ING’s Hong Kong office at One International Finance Centre on Harbour View Street, he added. But, Vivek Subramanian, a founding partner at Avigo, said the firm is not in talks tosellout the business. Small funds will not survive long in the PE business, which is “essentially a large capital play”, said Jon Schahinger, who heads ING’s PE business in Asia from its office in Australia. “As the market grows, small funds perish if they aren’t taken over by larger funds.”   more »