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Cisco VC to explore weak funding market
By siliconindia
Bangalore: As valuations being sought by tech start-ups in a global economy seized by a liquidity crunch are becoming 'rational and realistic', Cisco is investing in such start-ups. Apart from Cisco, Intel, IBM and Google are other international tech majors who explore this path, reported Mint.
This trend is offering tech-focused corporate venture capital (VC) funds a window of opportunity to increase their presence among early-and growth-stage firms in India. Corporate VC involves a large company investing in businesses that help extend the reach of its products and services.
Charles Carmel, Cisco's vice-president of corporate development for strategy, acquisitions and investments, said. "We have one of the healthiest balance sheets with $26 billion (Rs1.23 trillion) in cash. So we have the capacity to be plenty more aggressive in a more challenging environment," he said.
The value of VC and private equity deals has fallen 28 percent year-on-year in the July-September quarter to $3 billion from $4.2 billion in the year-ago period, according to data from deal tracking firm Venture Intelligence.
Among corporate VCs active in India, Intel Capital is the most active, investing out of a dedicated $250 million India fund. Cisco is the only other company to set aside a dedicated amount for venture investing here.
Others such as Siemens AG invest out of balance sheet, and Google invests indirectly through other early-stage VC funds such as Seedfund and Ventureast.
Hilton Romanski, Cisco's vice-president for corporate development, said the firm usually partners with "high-quality venture capital firms to understand a market and once that is done, invests directly". Cisco, for instance, has partnered with Softbank Asia Infrastructure Fund, which also invests in India.
