Clearstone enters India

By agencies   |   Friday, 18 August 2006, 19:30 IST
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MUMBAI: Clearstone Venture Partners, an early stage venture capital firm opened its advisory office in Mumbai under the name Clearstone Venture Advisors. The company officials informed newspersons that the firm planned to invest $ 30–50 million in Indian companies each year. The strategy Clearstone will follow is to focus its Indian investments on high-growth consumption sectors including telecom, media, entertainment and financial services, keeping healtcare and education sectors as a future option. “India’s emerging middle-class, booming economy, and innovation make it the most exciting place to build new companies today,” said Sumant Mandal, Managing Director, Clearstone Venture Advisors. Clearstone has a history of successful ventures, namely in well-known companies such as eToys, Overture, Paypal, MP3.com, and others. The firm has been an investor in over a dozen US-based companies with back-end operations in India. It has been a lead investor with an ownership of 15 – 40 per cent in some 30 active portfolio companies, adding to its booty. The firm targets visionary entrepreneurs requiring help in building globally valuable companies through early stage funding in the range of $ 2 – 5 million. Rahul Khanna, Director of clearstone mentioned that by early stages, they meant companies who were early in terms of creating a revolution in their market. Their aim would be to try and bring institutional comfort to the emerging businesses and build strong and extensive relationships. The firm has raised $ 650 million of investment through three different funds, large institutional investors such as Universities, fund of funds, and the US State of California, among others. It has devised long-term investment plans for the next 10 years. It has already made a positive impact by investing in Billdesk, India, an investment of $5 million.