Mega Visa is also in the process of raising up to Rs 5.5 crore from about seven global strategic investors according to Mr Ajay Mittal, chairman Mega Visa Marketing and Solutions. Mega Visa has funded part of its online project through internal accruals and partly through a bank loan of Rs 2.5 crore besides the investment from external investors like ICICI.

Mega Visa has also entered into a three way JV with the US-based freight forwarding agency BPD and Babaji Shivram, a Mumbai-based company which specialises in customs clearance to service various exporters and importers in a variety of sectors according to Mr Mittal.

The company aims to turn into an ASP servicing the chemical sector eventually. Mega Visa is a chemical marketing company which was acquired by Mr Mittal Builders about seven years ago. Mega Visa has alliances with four shipping companies and a global freight forwarding company as logistics support for its business. Mr Mittal also added that the company has forged relationships with seven MNCs to serve as their marketing arm in India.

The company had hired the services of consulting major Andersen Consulting last year to chalk out its online strategy according to Mr Mittal. Mr Mittal adds that the online strategy is expected to particularly impact the company's commodity and semi commodity business where it will now be possible for the company to aggregate demand online and then negotiate bulk rates. The commodity and semi commodity markets is worth about Rs 8000 crore according to Mr Mittal who expects to bag about 10 per cent of that business in the next three years.

Mr Mittal pegs the customer base of chemical consuming companies at about 10,000 and expects to corner about 3-4,000 by 2003. Megavisachem.com currently services about 800 customers according to Mr Mittal.Megavisa's auction segment will go live later this month.