iSeva plans to raise $15 m to expand ops
By siliconindia   |   Monday, 20 October 2003, 19:30 IST
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MUMBAI: Bangalore-based call centre firm iSeva plans to raise about $15 million to expand operations but will cede only a minority stake to new investors in the company. iSeva’s largest investor, e4e Labs, a fullyowned subsidiary of e4e US, invested $8 million in the firm as its first round of funding during February 2002. iSeva now needs money to expand its existing capacity of over 500 seats and set up a customer contact centre in Mumbai. e4e president and India founder Dr Sridhar Mitta, told ET that the firm is planning to raise funds, but is unwilling to give a major stake. “We expect investors to have a minority holding in the firm and want growth in terms of value. Investors wanting to put in money at this stage, yet not hold a majority stake are being approached,” Dr Mitta said. A bulk of the $15 million would come from new investors. e4e would invest a small amount to retain its holding. Dr Mitta declined to reveal the exact shareholding pattern, but sources state that e4e Labs holds about 80% in the firm. The rest is held by iSeva’s promoters and some employees. iSeva’s business model does not permit its investors to exit the firm completely. This factor, sources point out, has been a major hurdle for the firm in procuring investments from other investors that have expressed interest. Senior iSeva officials were not available for comment. The firm’s Chief Executive Officer Vaibhav Tewari could not be reached. iSeva operates two call centres in Bangalore with a capacity of over 500 seats employing 700 people. The call centre firm offers email, text chat, web-collaboration based sales assistance and voice-based support for customers from the financial services vertical. It was founded in March 2000 by a team of ex-Deloitte consultants that included Mr Gagan Sharma, Mr Arun Santhebennur, Mr Vaibhav Tewari, Mr Sridhar Turaga and Mr Vijay Narasapur. The company, which is mainly targeting the North American market is headquartered in Dallas and has an office in New Jersey. e4e funds software, internet based infrastructure and service companies. Some of e4e’s operating companies apart from iSeva include Aztec Software, iCelerate and Vinciti Networks. (source: Economic Times)

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