Lifetree to raise $60 mn

Lifetree Convergence, which provides billing, messaging and business support software solutions to telecommunications carriers, plans to raise $60 million (Rs 230 crore) through the private equity route.

The company, headquartered in New Delhi with a major development base in Bangalore, is raising the sum to scale up its operations and for acquisitions.

The company which was incubated with expertise of Richard Siemens, who founded several Asian telecom operations besides creating the 'Orange' brand for Hutchison Telecom, is raising this large sum for the first time from external investors. Craig Erlich, Chairman of the global GSM Congress, is also an early investor in the company.

According to industry information, around $20 million is expected to be raised from a global private equity investor, while the rest is expected to be raised from a couple of India-focused funds. Company officials could not be contacted for comment.

Lifetree, in addition to billing and messaging solutions, provides products such as web-based self care portals, an electronic bill presentment solution and an interconnect solution for telecom operators.

It also provides value added services for the aggregation and distribution of content-based services across devices. Lifetree has also launched a Service Oriented Architecture-based portal product designed to integrate access to disparate applications.

With this fresh flow of funds, Lifetree is expected to expand its services business and implement a partner-based sales strategy.

The company presently has offices in Johannesburg in South Africa and Dubai in UAE. Its services will be extended throughout the Asia Pacific, Africa and Europe through regional offices and partnerships.

Industry sources further indicate that Lifetree has completed over 40 installations in the Asia Pacific, West Asia and Africa including a few major customers in India.