Banc of America Equity Partners Invests in Ittiam

By siliconindia staff writer   |   Wednesday, 08 December 2004, 20:30 IST
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BANGALORE: Ittiam Systems today announced that Banc of America Equity Partners-Asia ("BAEP-Asia"), the Private Equity investment arm of Bank of America, U.S.A., has invested USD 6.5 Million in Ittiam. Ittiam had earlier raised the Series A round of USD 5 Million in 2001 from Global Technology Ventures ("GTV"). GTV was co-founded by BAEP-Asia in 1999. Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serves clients in 150 countries and has relationships with 98% of U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 85% of Global Fortune 500. The Principal Investing Group ("Banc of America Equity Partners “ BAEP") is the private equity investment arm of Bank of America Corporation and has a history of more than 30 years of Private Equity investing. Current portfolio,including commitments, is approx. USD 10.3 billion. The India group primarily focuses on providing development capital to companies in high growth industries. Kayu F. Mehta, Managing Director and Head, Banc of America Equity Partners-Asia says "We have worked very closely with Ittiam over the past two years and look forward to continuing to engage closely to take Ittiam to the next echelon". V.G. Siddhartha, Head of GTV added that "nearly four years ago we had put our faith on the bold plans of Ittiam and its leaders. Today a second round investment by BAEP-Asia reaffirms our decision". "Investment by Bank of America is a recognition and a responsibility", said Srini Rajam, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Ittiam Systems. "We plan to leverage the funds to fuel the next phase of growth for the company which will be crucial for our goal to go public", he added. Ittiam Systems started in early 2001 with a vision to become a world leader in DSP systems. The company announced profitability early this year and has also emerged as the most preferred DSP IP supplier in the DSP Professionals Survey 2004 conducted by Forward Concepts, U.S.A.