Indian-Promoted Firms Dominate VC Deals in US

CompuWire, April 13, 2004

Indian-promoted technology companies are taking a lion's share of US venture capital (VC) money according to recent research by Chennai-based VC tracking firm TSJ Media.

During the last quarter (ended March 2004) US VCs dished out over $470m in private equity placements to 43 companies set up by individuals with Indian roots, including CipherTrust Inc, Redback Networks Inc, 3PAR Inc, Ipolicy Networks Inc, and Maranti Networks Inc.

According TSJ Media, over 19 firms secured funding of over $10m each.
Most of the money is being funneled to enterprise software products, which attracted over 15 deals last quarter. Telecommunications chipped in with eight deals, while the remainder largely comprised storage hardware and security device vendors.

The largest placement last quarter ($42m) was by CipherTrust, an Atlanta, Georgia-based provider of email security software. 3PAR, a Californian provider of utility storage snagged $30m, while broadband networking firm Redback Networks bounced back from Chapter 11 bankruptcy to also secure $30m
The previous quarter (ended December 2003), 32 Indian-promoted firms collectively raised over $265m.