Good resource for people who have good ideas but need resources:
Venturewoods
February 28th, 2008
Sponsor a Business
Dear Friends,
This is one of the better ventures I have come across, leveraging the power of community to empower entrepreneurs.
Its a matchmaking project, connecting entrepreneurs who need loans with lenders who can offer loans.
If an entrepreneurs needs Rs. 50,000 as loan, he can receive it from multiple lenders , maybe in smaller chunks of Rs. 5000 each. Similarly a lender can spread his loan of Rs. 2 Lacs, across maybe 10 or 20 businesses.
Last week statistics revealed on the site are inspiring to know, the model seems to be clearly working.
Close to 4000 lenders have joined, 1400+ entrepreneurs have been funded collectively amounting to Rs. 2.5 crores.
This idea needs to spread fast, it is currently being positioned to help poor people with a zeal to do business, but who lack basic resources.
To ensure that the people do not misuse, the project works with local micro finance companies.
Surprisingly in India, there is only one field partner listed, it is Delhi based Somaiya Group.
Pls, Pls share and forward the details about the venture to lenders, micro finance agencies, as well as worthy entrepreneurs.
And yes, the link to the project is http://www.kiva.org
Regards,
Ajay Sanghani
Founder, ITVidya.com
Cell : 098200 20753
VC Circle says:
The Cleantech Group, which is a network of investors and companies in the cleantech industry, has set up shop in India. So far it had only presence in North America, China and Europe. Leading venture capitalist Vinod Khosla will serve as Chair and Jaswinder Kaur, executive director of the Indian Venture Capital Association (IVCA) in Delhi, will be the Country Director of the Indian arm of the group.
Cleantech Group was earlier known as Cleantech Venture Network, which “defined and introduced cleantech as an investment category in 2002. It has some 8,000 cleantech investors, 9,500 companies and professional services organisations worldwide and a core group of 1,300 members with assets exceeding $6 trillion. They include venture capital firms, investment banks, limited partners, governments and major corporations via offices in North America, Europe, China and India. Read the full articl at VC Circle Cleantech Group Comes To India; Vinod Khosla, Chair, Jaswinder Kaur, Country Director
VC Circle says:
It seems US sub-prime crisis is turning out to be a boon rather than a bane for fundamentally stronger markets in Asia. A host of private equity biggies - like Carlyle and JPMorgan - are now training their investment flows towards high growth markets in Asia - like China and India. According to a Bloomberg report, Carlyle Group, the world’s second-biggest private-equity firm, plans to raise as much as $4 billion to invest in Asian companies. Click to read the full article at VC Cicrle US Private Equity Biggies To Raise More Money For Investing In Asia
Here's th direct link to the article on Business Standard : Venture fund for defence firms
The $100-million fund, which has the option to raise a further $200 million, will benefit small and medium enterprises engaged in defence production
A first of its kind venture fund for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) engaged in defence production, proposed by Mumbai-based India Rizing Fund, is awaiting final clearance from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).
The Fund proposes to invest $100 million in Indian defence SME's.
The proposal has received the go-ahead of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, the Department of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs. However, since the Department of Defence had not given its clearance till February 8, the FIPB deferred the proposal for consideration at a later date.
The Fund, which is promoted by former India head of ANZ Investment Bank Rajesh Narayan, has an option to raise another $ 200 million. It has a 10-year duration, with an option to increase it by four more years. More such funds may be created in the future for investment into the Indian defence production sector.
Advisors to India Rizing Fund include Rana Kapoor, founder and managing director of Yes Bank, Rahul Chowdhary, CEO, Tata Strategic Electronics, Lt Gen V J Sundaram, leader flight vehicle design team of Prithvi missile and former RBI deputy governor Vepa Kamesam.
The proposed scheme will offer two categories of units of par value of Rs 10 lakh each to investors and Rs 100 each for promoters and management of the company. Funds from the scheme will be invested in niche areas of defence production which include tanks, aircraft and war gaming simulators, as well as radars, military aircraft, missile launch systems and howitzer guns.
According to industry estimates, there are 5,000-6,000 SMEs registered with a Defence Ministry arm contributing extensively to projects like the Light Combat Aircraft and Arjun Main battle tank.
Experts point out that with India planning to acquire multi role combat aircraft (MRCA), SMEs can benefit from the offset obligation of such a defence deal, under which, the selected aircraft manufacturer has to source 50 per cent of the components from India.
“We expect the offset obligation to be around $5 billion and this is the chance for Indian defence related SMEs to reach out globally,” said Surjith Haridas, director, defence division, CII.
Experts also said that Indian defence SMEs will also benefit from a government target of sourcing 70 per cent of defence requirements from indigenous sources by 2010.
A recent Assocham-Ernst and Young report had put the total size of the defence market in India for private sector at $700 million, which is expected to have a growth potential of 20 per cent by 2010. The study found that more than 5,000 companies are supplying around 20 per cent to 25 per cent of components and sub-assemblies to state-owned defence production companies.
Safend, an international provider of endpoint Data Leakage Prevention (DLP) solutions for enterprise computers, today announced it has secured its Series C round of funding. The $9 million round is being funded by a leading multi-billion dollar European asset management firm, as well as Safend's existing investors, Elron (NASDAQ: ELRN) (TELAVIV: ELRN), Intel Capital and Walden Israel Venture Capital. The new funding enables Safend to accelerate development efforts of its core technology, new solution offerings, and fund continued growth through strategic partnerships and distribution channels worldwide.
"Safend is a very promising company that is already generating substantial revenues by having the best-of-breed detachable storage and device control solutions on the market," said Yair Cohen, Vice President at Elron. "With its established management team, industry proven and certified technology, and impressive customer base, Safend is well positioned for continued success."
"Safend's impressive technical development team is unquestionably among the best we have encountered," said Noga Kap, General Partner, Walden Israel Venture Capital. "Their continued dedication to their customers through product innovation, quality assurance, and new partnerships makes Safend a solid investment choice for Walden Israel."
Founded in 2003, Safend has grown to acquire more than 650 customers worldwide and continues to expand its customer base as more organizations increasingly recognize data security as a top priority and strategic asset. According to recent surveys, 79%of all organizations handle sensitive data, 55% of the data remains unprotected and according to the Ponemon Institute, a Michigan-based independent research firm, the average data loss incident will cost an organization $6.3 million.
Safend's award-winning software solutions, Safend Auditor and Safend Protector, enable organizations to reduce the risk of data loss, theft and misuse by monitoring and controlling access to sensitive data. The Safend solution protects confidential data stored on enterprise PCs and laptops by monitoring the transfer of sensitive data and controls access to removable storage devices and wireless communication ports. Safend has often been recognized for having innovative products and has recently received numerous industry awards including the Info Security Hot Company 2007 Award and the 2008 Global Excellence Award for Best Endpoint Security Solution.
"The fact that the original investors subscribed to this round is significant," said Gil Sever, Safend's Chief Executive Officer. "It validates Safend's strategy and execution performance, and demonstrates our investors' confidence in the market opportunity and demand for our evolving solution. Our investors have a proven track record of investing in successful start-ups. We are pleased to have attracted strong venture partners and look forward to working with them as we continue to address the pervasive problem of data leakage."
LONDON, Feb. 13, 2008 – Bragster, a leading social network for dares and social bets, today announced it closed a $3.5 million Series A round of venture capital funding led by Intel Capital, the global investment arm of Intel Corp. The funds will be used to support future product launches, scale the team, accommodate new partners' requests and market the site.
The funding comes at a key moment for the year-old site, which has built an audience of 800,000 viewers in just 12 months. As social networking has spiralled upward to millions of users and $1.2 billion in advertising revenues last year, its success has a price: The leading social networks have become too large, unwieldy and homogenized for many users. Bragster founders Wim Vernaeve and Bertrand Bodson are leveraging the audience shift to connect with more targeted communities. They believe a site with higher-value content that targets a specific audience will create more engaged users and, by extension, a more attractive value proposition for advertisers.
"How many times have you told a friend 'I bet you can't do this?' That's the inspiration behind Bragster," said Vernaeve, who worked at Morgan Stanley in London before launching the site in 2007. "Bragster was founded to record all the crazy things our friends were bragging about but never seemed to happen. There's a competitive spirit in each of us and challenges everywhere, and Bragster is available to record and enrich them."
Bodson, who co-founded Bragster after working at Amazon.com, said the site is a unique entertainment channel. "Every story has its own build up and rich media content, created by our community of users. Intel Capital's role as an investor will help us write the next exciting chapter in our young company’s history."
"The social networking market segment is experiencing tremendous growth but has yet to find an optimal business model," said Alain-Gabriel Courtines, Investment Director at Intel Capital. "Bragster's understanding of social media along with its broad entertainment appeal positions it to capitalize on this opportunity and create a richer, deeper experience for both advertisers and users."
Intel Capital led the funding round, joined by David Frankel through Puressence Limited. Frankel previously invested in companies including GetMeIn and SiteAdvisor, sold to Ticketmaster and McAfee, respectively.
About Bragster
Bragster is the place to dare your friends online and brag about it after posting evidence. It combines the power of online communities with the fun of having dares, challenges and bets among friends. The company was founded by Wim Vernaeve and Bertrand Bodson in 2006 and the site launched in January 2007, reaching over 800,000 unique visitors from over 150 countries by the end of its first year. The largest markets by far are the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. More information can be found at www.bragster.com.
About Intel Capital
Intel Capital, Intel's global investment organization, makes equity investments in innovative technology start-ups and companies worldwide. Intel Capital invests in a broad range of companies offering hardware, software and services targeting enterprise, home, mobility, health, consumer Internet, semiconductor manufacturing, and cleantech. Since 1991, Intel Capital has invested more than US$6 billion in approximately 1,000 companies in more than 40 countries. In that timeframe, about 157 portfolio companies have gone public on various exchanges around the world and another 187 have been acquired by other companies. In 2007, Intel Capital invested about US$639 million in 166 deals with approximately 37 percent of funds invested outside the United States. For more information on Intel Capital and its differentiated advantages, visit www.intelcapital.com.
Alok Verma
