Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group-promoted Reliance Tech Ventures, venture capitalist Artiman and Cisco Ventures are in talks to invest Rs 30-35 crore in SureWaves, the Bangalore-headquartered startup engaged in providing media convergence technology solutions and funded by the former Broadcom India honcho Rajendra Khare.
Reliance Tech Ventures, which provides early-stage capital for scaling up businesses linked to the group companies, is in the fray as multiplex chain and distribution entity Adlabs is reportedly a client of SureWaves, sources said.
The startup plans to dilute a stake of 20-26% for a capital infusion of $7-8 million. Mr Rajendra Khare, CMD, SureWaves could not be reached despite several reminders.
Mr Khare, Mr Ravi Bhatt of Nokia India, Mr Anand Kansal and Mr Tapan Datta came together to float the startup company. SureWaves combines TV content with the web, out-of-home (OOH) displays and mobile phone.
It also has the technology platform for distributing content and advertising on a range of remote display screens, either in the form of live or recorded TV and internet feeds.
SureWaves counts on customers in the retail, entertainment, retail banking, hospitality, transport and healthcare segments. Artiman Ventures, which raised $185 million in January 2007 and has since closed six deals, is among the potential contenders for a stake purchase in SureWaves. The VC interest in the company is not surprising as its solutions are used in businesses where the likes of Reliance Tech Ventures and Cisco have a presence.
Cisco is also interested. Cisco provides solutions and products in internet networking and an investment in SureWaves would serve to expand this ecosystem.
Notwithstanding the turmoil in the global financial markets and a pal-pable slowdown in private equity deals, the VC activity in startup and early stage companies remains buoyant. Several Silicon valley funds having already raised money. International investors who set aside a small chunk of their portfolio for venture funds are not showing any signs of a pullback, either.
Helion Venture recently announced the closing of its second fund, amounting to $210 million, taking its total corpus to $350 million. Moreover, Accel India and Seedfund have also focussed on early stage ventures.
Source: Economic Times