With rapid rise in internet penetration in urban India, which has grown from 9% last year to to over 12%, the number of netizens in the country has inched upto a sizeable 49-million. While this figure has made marketers look at internet as a viable advertising platform, venture capitalists have already started supportingh the new media growth story. According to industry estimates, around Rs 400 crore has been pumped in by various private equity/venture capital firms like IDG Ventures, Sequoia Capital India, Opus Capital and Intel Capital in online advertising sector this year. Pegged at over Rs 270 crore, the Indian online advertising is expected to touch Rs 2,500 crore in the next three years, accounting for 6.8% of the entire advertising pie. Currently, internet ad spend in India accounts for only 2.4% of the total ad market.   more »

Reliance Life Sciences has said it is looking for acquisitions in the clinical research space, but high-valuations are hindering its plans. “We are looking to acquire clinical research companies,” said Reliance Life Sciences Chief Executive Officer K V Subramaniam. “We are looking at acquisition up to $50 million. But companies that are prepared to sell ask for 10 to 15 times more of EBITDA,” he said. The company had identified at least three clinical research companies in Europe, but had to back down because of high-valuations. “Valuation is a big factor while making an acquisition. Most of them did not make sense,” Subramaniam said.   more »