NVP to invest in internet start-ups

The US-based Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) is looking to fund start-up companies in consumer and mobile internet space in India, banking on its recently announced new fund of $650 million.

The global venture capital firm would look at both seed and early stage funding and also financing of full-blown companies.

"Consumer internet and mobile internet are the two growth areas for a venture funding company, at least for the next two years. We would be more interested in product companies, even as funding of service, software and infrastructure would also be looked at," Promod Haque, general partner, NVP, said.

NVP would look at late stage or equity investments of upto $50 million in an Indian company. Software systems, semi-conductors, internet and mobile phone-based movie distribution companies, biotechnology, and medical and diagnostic devices, would be the other areas of interest for NVP in the country.

A major chunk of the investment of the $650 million NVP X fund will be made in Indian companies, even as there would be investments in China and the US.

NVP's new fund, NVP X, which is hailed as the largest fund the firm has raised to date, increases its total capital and commitments to over $2.5 billion. NVP X follows an earlier $400-million NVP IX Fund, which closed in late 2001. NVP has funded over 400 companies since inception.

Haque, who has been named as the top venture capitalist in the world in the annual Forbes Midas List for 2004, is also bullish on the re-emergence of the dot.com era.

"The bust of 2000, not withstanding, there will be selective number of successful internet-based companies in future. The industry is in a correction phase, learning from the earlier dotcom bust and there could be a number of successful internet-based companies in future," he said.

Internet-based companies would grow on the basis of replicability of existing successful models and creation of new unique models, he added.

The latest investment of NVP in India, yatraonline.com, have been made after taking into account the successes of similar companies in other parts of the world, he said.