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Technology Stocks : Satyam Infoway Ltd-(Nasdaq:SIFY) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (638)	2/9/2000 8:02:00 PM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1471

OT And now, a venture fund with an Indian flavour (Three Indian entrepreneurs, who have made it big in the Silicon Valley, want to give back by setting up a unique $10 million fund, which will go beyond playing the role of a VC. -CIOL Bureau Wednesday, February 09, 2000 BANGALORE: A group of three Indian entrepreneurs who have made it big in the Silicon Valley wants to contribute to their motherland?s fledgling breed of Internet entrepreneurs in a different way. They are not just investing money in these new projects, they are also not starting their own ventures here. They "want to do more than that". P.V. Kannan and Shanmugam Nagarajan, who had founded Business Evolution, which was bought over by Kana Communications for a staggering $140 million last year, along with Sudhakar Kosaraju, have set up a $10-million fund to realise their dream in India. According to Kannan (pvkannan@hotmail.com), who will head the fund, the group will identify the promising entrepreneur in the Internet area and help them launch their business. "Depending on the kind of business they are into, we will talk to a successful Indian IT professional in the US and get him to adopt the company as a mentor. The US Indian can invest in the company through our fund," pointed out Kannan, adding that this would provide the Indian entrepreneur access the US business model. Kannan said that the first investment in an IT enabled services would be announced by the fund in about 4-8 weeks. When asked if the fund would be identified as a venture fund in India, he said that the legal aspects were yet to be worked out. "We will perhaps be a combination of a venture capital and an incubator," pointed out Nagarajan. We will be able to offer the Indian entrepreneurs knowledge about the segment he would enter and advise on aspects such as listing on Nasdaq. The fund will however target only start-ups in the Internet area. Kannan said that the team was looking at an investment time frame of less than a year. "That is a long time on the Internet," he added. Business Evolution, founded by Kannan and Nagarajan in 1997 was acquired by Kana Communications, leader in the segment with more than 80 per cent market share. Business Evolution, with staff strength of barely 65, was engaged in developing online customer communication software. Kosaraju, an American of Indian origin, is a senior official in PlanetRx.