Venture Capital investments in India a record $928 Million in 2007: Dow Jones

22 February 2008

Mumbai: Venture capitalists invested some $928 million in 80 deals for entrepreneurial companies in India during 2007, according to the Quarterly India Venture Capital Report published today by Dow Jones VentureSource.

This was a whopping 166 per cent increase over the $349 million invested in 36 deals in 2006, and easily the highest total on record for the region.

The report found nearly 48 per cent of all venture financing deals in India were for Information Technology (IT) companies, as 38 rounds were completed, accounting for $384 million, more than India's entire 2006 venture investment total.

The most popular recipients of venture capital in the IT industry were companies in the web-heavy "information services" sector, which accounted for 22 deals and nearly $141 million in investment.

Among the deals in this area was the $10 million second round for Bangalore-based Four Interactive, an online provider of local information on food, events, lifestyle, shopping and more.

"Service-oriented companies in India, both in the technology fields and the non-technology areas of hotels, taxis and similar services, continue to attract investment and this is likely due to their low capital requirements as well as to the rapidly emerging nature of the broader Indian economy," said Jessica Canning, Director of Global Research for Dow Jones VentureSource.