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Venture capital will mould infotech industry in India, agree experts

Venture or angel funding will play a major role in the growth of Indian information technology industry, experts said at a conference in Bombay today.

The Indian IT industry witnessed a 30-fold growth in the last ten years by achieving the target of $ 3 billion. To enhance the growth to $ 100 billion in the next ten years, the venture funding or angel funding could play an important role, said Pravin Gandhi, an IT expert.

"There are only 500 IT companies currently in this industry. If the country wants to achieve the next target for the upcoming decade, we need a few thousand more companies, Gandhi said.

There is no dearth of entrepreneurs but shortage of capital. Venture capital is hence necessary for that kind of growth, he said.

Jerry Rao of Mphasis (formerly with Citibank-India) stressed that there is no room for conservative mindset among venture capitalists and entrepreneurs.

The conference is being jointly organised by Trade Fairs and Conferences International and Indian Venture Capital Association. Start-ups, high-technology companies, venture capitalists, financiers and private equity companies are taking part.

Discussions on seed capital, angel investors, venture funding, private equity, debt financing, initial public offers, mergers and acquisitions are on the agenda.

UNI

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