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“Since the mobile touches millions of people in India, it is a great horizontal delivery vehicle — whether for transaction processing, electronics payments or mobile advertising. We do believe that everyone with a mobile phone is part of a digital network.
This means they are ripe for some kind of network model or services model over the phone. So we are looking at the entire VAS space for breakthrough opportunities,” said Rahul Khanna, director, Clearstone Venture Advisors. Since starting operations in India in 2006, Clearstone has invested in four Indian companies with a committed capital of about $20 million. These are being funded from the company's third fund which is $210 million in size. The company has set aside about 20-25 per cent of the third fund for investment opportunities in India. “Broadly, we have carved almost 20-25 per cent of our funds for India,” Khanna added. Globally, most of Clearstone's portfolios are concentrated in telecom, media, entertainment and financial services. In India, the company is also seeking opportunities in some non-tech areas, including the health and wellness segment. “We are upbeat on consumer growth in this market. Despite what is happening in the stock market, the reality is that consumption and growth in services is really the way forward for the country,” Khanna said. “We are not looking at traditional medicine, but rather more at wellness segment.” Of Clearstone's existing portfolio in India, two companies operate in non-tech areas. In March 2007, Clearstone and SVB Financial Group had invested about $5 million in Games2win, an entertainment company focussed on the online gaming industry. Elbee Express, an express delivery company, got $6.25 million in funding from Clearstone and co-investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala. With SIDBI, Clearstone invested $8.5 million in DigiBee Microsystems, a Bangalore-based company. Clearstone's first portfolio investment in India was in payment services provider BillDesk. Clearstone invested $7.5 million in the company in partnership with State Bank of India in June 2006. |
Source: Business Standard