Intel Cap pumps $17m in three Indian IT cos

The funding will come from the $250 million Intel Capital India Technology fund. “Since 1998, Intel Capital has already invested in 50 companies. Half the value of the dedicated fund for India, which was launched in 2005, has been already exhausted,” said Arvind Sodhani, president, Intel Capital. However, the company refused to give the break up of the investment in the three companies.

Out of the three investments, Yatra is a late stage deal, BuzzInTown.com is an early stage, while Emnet Samsara has already established its presence in Mumbai through 500 units.

“Intel Capital continues to demonstrate the stage-agnostic nature of our investments by supporting any lucrative technology company in any stages of their growth,” said Sudheer Kuppam, managing director, Intel Capital, India. “Rediff.com, NIIT, Sasken, India Infoline, Sharekhan, etc are some of our successful investments in the country,” added Sodhani.

So far, Intel Capital, which came into being in 1991, has invested $7.5 billion in 400 companies across 40 countries. In the year 2007, the company invested close to $639 million and 37% of the money was invested outside the US.

For the three Indian companies, which have received funding from Intel Capital, the association not only means funding but also access to Intel’s huge network. “To start with, the association guarantees immediate synergies with 7-8 companies that are also funded by Intel Capital,” said Dhruv Shringi, co-founder and CEO, Yatra.com, which is expecting to clock revenues of $250 million by the end of this year.

While, the Intel Capital India Technology fund was only launched in 2005, before that the company had been investing in Indian start-ups off the balance sheet of Intel Corporation. Going forward, Intel Capital sees huge opportunity in the Indian technology scenario and will refurbish the fund if need be.