FCS is not the first to do so. There are many in the Silicon Valley who are increasingly opting for stock option instead of the contracted amount. The arrangement works well for both. The swelling community of internet start-ups get a shot of venture capital infusion while the banks, chartered accountants and software consultants among others pick the low-valued stock which they feel will be worth several millions in a couple of years.

Though FCS is incorporated in Santa Clara, California as Ace Technologies, the stake in the two start-ups has been bought by the New Delhi-based FCS as the two contracts are being executed by it. Ace president Chuck Shekhar feels the two deals will give the Rs 21-crore FCS between $7-8 million when the two companies, Distributed Websites Corporation and Sirron Holdings Inc, decide to go public.

DWC is a subsidiary ofMinneapolis-based $25-million multimedia consulting company Vanguard Technologies and was floated in February this year. Presently evaluated at $1 million, DWC has contracted the development of website products for its portal website to FCS against 10 per cent share. Shekhar hopes the launch of the site later this year will see the company's $1 million stock soaring up to $65 million.

FCS is developing Web Genie, a tool which will enable those wanting to develop and host their own e-commerce ready site on DWC's portal. This will be enabled through DWC's tie-up with Qwex, one of the largest internet access providers in USA.

``Besides, DWC will provide a first of sorts in e-commerce. It will take you directly to a superstore like K-Mart or others which is located nearest to your location after identifying your zip code so that you can make the purchases from the one physically nearest to you,'' said Shekhar's brother and FCS managing director Dalip Kumar. For this, DWC has also tied up with FingerHut, theorder fulfillment outfit that belongs to Macy's.

Virginia-based fund and accounting management company Sirron Holdings Inc has parted with 33 per cent share in favour of FCS as the latter will modify its packages using the XML standards being developed by W3C, the standards development committee for document transfer. Through this, the business-to-business transfer of documents between two trading partners will become seemless and easier.

According to Kumar, no similar package exists at present. The plan is to float a new joint venture between Sirron and FCS in two months in which the latter will hold 33 per cent equity. ``Reasonably, we should be able to have 50,000 customers in the first year and the revenue should touch $50,000. Then the company might go public and our stake will be worth much more than the remuneration for the ongoing development work,'' Kumar claimed.

In another interesting development, FCS has just signed another contract with a US-based art gallery. The tie-up will lead to thecreation of a website where art-loving netizens will be able to e-visit virtually any major and famous museum or art gallery in the world and bid for whichever painting or work of art is put on the block, besides buying replicas in the normal routine. But we will have to wait for that to happen till September.