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Technology Stocks : Softbank Group Corp -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jonas1 who wrote (2171)	10/31/1999 8:26:00 AM
From: Jonas1	Respond to of 6018

More on eVentures and Softbank in India This is from SGanesh's comments the past week or so from the TMF board. Maybe Softbank and SIFY will be competitors very soon? (Or maybe partners?) Jonas ************************************************** From economictimes.com : <<< Arnab Mukherjee MUMBAI 26 OCTOBER ICICI and eVentures India have picked up a 20 per cent stake each in contest website contests2win.com . The site, which has been in operation only since August '98, claims to have over 65,000 Indian members and 150 brand associations from 120 companies. While contests2win CEO Alok Kejriwal refused to disclose the quantum of the investment made by ICICI and eVentures, he said that the present valuation of his company was estimated at $2m (about Rs 9 crore). ICICI and eVentures ? an alliance between Rupert Murdoch's News Corp and Softbank ? have taken the stake in contests2win's holding company Surreal Contact Private Ltd. www.contests2win.com has been hosting regular contests online, ranging from movie ticket giveaways to viewers' choice contests to ongoing promos for music companies and amusement parks. Contest running at the moment includes those from MTV, Ariel, Magnasound, Godrej-GE, Nestle and Sony Music. On offer is a vast range of prizes including television sets, music systems, holidays and cars. According to Mr Kejriwal, the site offers the ultimate ease in responding to a contest. Once users register with the site, they are assigned a username, so that responding to future contests is simplified. The site's visitor base was growing at a monthly rate of 30 per cent, translating into 18,000 new users every month, he said. ?By making the process of participation easier, as well as providing visitors instant feedback, and in some cases, instant gratification, we were able to capitalise on the craving for activity-based entertainment that exists in several communities, like say the Gujaratis,? he added. Mr Kejriwal said the valuation which formed the basis of the ICICI/eVentures investment was done three months ago. The paid-up capital and the authorised capital of the company was Rs 2.5 million (Rs 25 lakh). Mr Kejriwal said his investment so far had been Rs 10 lakh. The freshly-infused funds will be deployed to set up new offices and infrastructure nationally as well as abroad. The company, which currently, has offices at Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, now plans to open offices in Chennai and Calcutta. It is also looking at foraying into markets in the Middle East and the Far East. The staff strength of the company, which now stands at 13, is expected to rise to 20 shortly. All employees will be offered stock options, Mr Kejriwal said. The company is also planning an equity float in the US market within a year-and-a-half to two years, he added. Mr Kejriwal, who claims to have made an initial investment of just Rs 5,000 in the project, said that the idea of the site was developed due to his own problems in participating in contests publicised on traditional media, due to the cumbersome process. eVentures launched eVentures India earlier this month, in alliance with Pramod K Mittal of the Ispat group. eVentures will focus on investments in Internet properties in India. In a separate agreement, Acquavit Inc, an Internet incubator focusing on leading edge start-ups, merged with eVentures India at the same time.