Intel Capital, the venture capital unit of Nasdaq-listed Intel Corporation, on Thursday said it will invest US$17 million in three Indian companies and said it is bullish on the country's investment prospects.
The three companies identified for investment are online travel portal Yatra.com, event-oriented social network BuzzInTown.com and advertising company Emnet Samsara Media.
“We are rapidly investing in opportunities that we find suitable and are excited about investment prospects in the country,” Intel Capital President Arvind Sodhani said.
The funding for the said investment would come from the US$250 million Intel Capital India Technology Fund.
The fund has already invested US$125 million so far in the country, Sodhani said, adding that apart from investing in technology companies, the fund would also focus on alternate sources of energy.
The VC unit invested about US$640 million globally in 2007, Sodhani said. “I will not be surprised if by the end of the this year we end up investing over US$500 million globally,” he added.
“We are interested in promoting ecofriendly technology that could generate alternative power in order to compliment the current energy situation in the country. We are eyeing the solar energy sector and wish to invest in such companies,” Intel Capital India managing director Sudheer Kuppam said.
Further Intel Capital is also focusing on investment in the WiMax network of the country. “We are waiting for the government to speed up the process of spectrum allocation. We would like to invest in the WiMax network,” Sodhani added.
Intel Capital has a corpus of over US$3 billion and its portfolio includes over 400 companies across the world.
Source: Trading Markets