Speaking to The Financial Express, Walden International Investment Group director and India representative Sudhir K Sethi said the company has earmarked a $63-million fund for India. Of this, the company has already invested around $30 million in 12 Indian companies over the last two years.

The fund would invest $15 million in four more Indian infotech companies by end-2000. He said Walden plans to invest the remaining amount over the next five years. The company has identified 29 sectors for making investments in India. These includes companies in business-to-business e-commerce and business-to-consumer e-commerce space, software services and mobile applications companies.

The companies where the fund has invested include Arjun Malhotra-promoted Techspan, Bangalore-based Graycell, Ashok Sooto-backed MindTree Consulting, Vtplex and Total Shopping Network.

He said the fund was focussing on providing seed capital to start-ups. In the next phase the fund would target companies which are on a expansion mode. The fund was also looking to invest in companies involved in IT-enabled services and Geographical Information System (GIS) solutions.

The firm would invest in fewer number of companies compared to the first phase as the investment per company would be higher.

Sethi was speaking at the launch of a new internet start-up vtPlex which will provide Web-centric customer relationship management services (eCRM) in the country. vtPlex is jointly promoted by the Rs 20-crore Venture Infotek group and Walden International. vtPlex's eCRM enables companies to manage their customer relationships with respect to marketing, sales, order fulfillment and support. The services will be targetted at segments such as financial services, telecommunications, FMCG and freight and logistics, said vtPlex chairman Dhruv Khaitan.

According to vtPlex founder and chief knowledge officer Jayanta Chatterjee, the market for CRM solutions in India is expected to be around $50 million in 2000-2001. He said vpPlex targets a 50 per cent market share in the long run. Khaitan said vtPlex was also looking to set up a CRM training centre in the country in the next six months. The company would target both the Indian and US markets with its eCRM solutions, said Chatterjee.