Shekhar Kapur, director of Oscar-nominated movie "Elizabeth," is the executive director of the London-based firm, founded in January this year.Softechnet Chief Executive Tony Sarin said Kapur's e-commerce leanings were not surprising given the increasing convergence between old and new media, such as AOL's takeover of Time Warner Inc. The company will use the money to fund future investments in the Internet, computer software and technology markets of India, Britain and the US. Sarin said the firm's investments would mainly focus on India's burgeoning Internet sector.

"India is one of the major geographical areas for software technology and the Internet, and revenues from this sector are going to be huge," Sarin said, mentioning Indian software firms such as Infosys and Satyam Computer Services which have successfully floated on the Nasdaq. Sarin added that he hoped to float some of the Indian firms that Softechnet invests in he London stock market, just as Indian firms have floated on Nasdaq.

Softechnet's flotation comes hot on the heels of last week's Aim debut from Legendary Investments Plc, another firm seeking to tap into the Asian e-commerce sector. Softechnet is expected to start trading on Aim on March 13.