Intel Capital Announces US$18 Million investment in Indian Companies
Saturday May 14, 2011 , 4 min Read
Intel Capital announced investment in PolicyBazaar, a leading online insurance comparison site that assists customers in making informed decisions about their insurance purchase. The investment funds will be used for building brand awareness and further enhancing PolicyBazaar’s technology platform and product depth.
Intel Capital also signed an agreement to invest in Sudhir Srivastava Robotic Surgery Centre (SSARSC), a provider of advanced robotic surgery procedures for specialty areas such as cardiac, urology, thoracic, gynaecology, orthopaedics, head and neck and general surgery, subject to satisfaction of customary conditions. This investment marks Intel Capital’s first investment in the healthcare sector in India.
In addition to these two new investments, Intel Capital announced follow-on investments in mobile media company July Systems; online travel company Yatra.com; and open-source application development software company WSO2.
Intel Capital made a total investment of approximately US$18 million. Details of the individual investments were not disclosed.
“Technology has been key to India’s unprecedented development over the last few years, and our investments in these companies is proof of our ongoing commitment to nurture technology innovation in India,” said Arvind Sodhani, president of Intel Capital and executive vice president of Intel. “Our support for these companies will give them access to global resources, knowledge and expertise to assist with their own growth and success.”
“The rapid adoption of computing in India is transforming the economy and improving people’s lives, and this is just the beginning,” said Navin Shenoy, vice president and general manager, Intel Asia-Pacific. “These investments underscore the opportunity that computing creates for Indian entrepreneurs to build innovative new businesses.”
Funding for the investments announced by Intel Capital comes from the US$250 million Intel Capital India Technology Fund established in December 2005. This fund invests in Indian technology companies to stimulate local technology innovation and the continued growth of India's information technology industry.
Details on the new investments:
PolicyBazaar: PolicyBazaar is an online insurance comparison site that assists customers in making informed decisions about their insurance purchase. The investment funds will be used for building brand awareness and further enhancing PolicyBazaar’s technology platform and product depth.
Sudhir Srivastava Advanced Robotic Surgery Centre, operating as The International Centre for Robotic Surgery (ICRS), provides advanced robotic surgery procedures for surgical specialties such as cardiac, urology, thoracic, gynaecology, orthopaedics, head and neck and general surgery. The company plans to use the funds to launch eight to 10 centers throughout India and to advance the use of robotic platforms for tele-training, tele-mentoring, tele-surgery and development of automation for specific procedures.
Details on the follow on investments:
July Systems: July Systems is a leading provider of cross-platform mobile solutions to businesses worldwide. The company developed the industry’s first Mobile 3.0 publishing platform. The July Systems’ Mi™ Platform powers some of the largest global brands including, ESPN, CBS Sports, NBA, NFL, Turner Broadcasting, NBCU, Univision, Sports Illustrated, Wall Street Journal, Disney and hundreds of others worldwide. The company plans to use Intel Capital’s funds for investing in technology, operations and expanding its team.
Yatra.com: Yatra.com, India’s leading online travel company, offers a host of travel services designed to make business and leisure travel easier. Launched in August 2006, Yatra is today ranked as the leading provider of consumer-direct travel services in India. The investment to help accelerate Yatra.com’s growth plans by enabling the company to increase sales and marketing activities, expand its hotels and holidays business and selectively pursue strategic acquisitions.
WSO2: WSO2 is the lean enterprise middleware company. It delivers the only complete open source enterprise SOA middleware stack purpose-built as an integrated platform to support today’s heterogeneous enterprise environments — internally and in the cloud. The company will use the funds to expand its global operations; Silicon Valley-based marketing, sales and support teams; and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offerings to address the rapidly growing demand for WSO2’s open source middleware platforms.
About Intel Capital
Intel Capital, Intel's global investment organization, makes equity investments in innovative technology start-ups and companies worldwide. Intel Capital invests in a broad range of companies offering hardware, software, and services targeting enterprise, home, mobility, health, consumer Internet, semiconductor manufacturing and cleantech. Since 1991, Intel Capital has invested more than US$9.8 billion in over 1,100 companies in 48 countries. In that timeframe, 189 portfolio companies have gone public on various exchanges around the world and 258 were acquired or participated in a merger. In 2010, Intel Capital invested US$327 million in 119 investments with approximately 44 percent of funds invested outside the U.S. and Canada. For more information on Intel Capital and its differentiated advantages, visit www.intelcapital.com.
