NewPath to raise $300 million
By siliconindia   |   Friday, 23 July 2004, 19:30 IST
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BANGALORE: Newpath Ventures, the high profile venture fund, promoted by semiconductor chip veterans Vinod Dham and Tushar Dave is raising $200-$300 million by the end of next year to fund technology firms, reports an Indian daily. The money, the daily reported, will be used to fund 10-15 companies that are into technology product development and intellectual property creation. An India presence is desired for companies that NewPath Ventures decides to fund, Mr Dham told Economic Times, an Indian daily. NewPath is helping three companies funded by it to raise second round of funding from external investors. It got Flextronics, the global contract manufacturer to invest $10 million in Insilica Semiconductors and Nokia Ventures to put an equivalent sum in Nevis Networks. It is now raising money for Telsima. Insilica, Nevis and Telsima, the third firm funded by NewPath have significant India presence. Mr Dham said Telsima’s end-to-end telecom solutions are appropriate for Indian telecom service providers. The complete product design including manufacturing of Telsima’s products will happen in India, he said. Mr Dham’s complaint however is that unfriendly attitude of the Government, which is taxing domestic hardware makers while reducing duties on imported products. Pursuing a strong hardware manufacturing policy will help India reduce growing base of unemployment and seed innovativeness, he said. While most telecom service providers globally are reducing spend on new equipment, India is at a take-off stage. There is an immense opportunity for telecom vendors who are able to provide a one-stop product and service shop. The Indian telecom market, according to him, presents a $8 billion opportunity. Assisted by NewPath, Telsima acquired the voice over IP silicon business from Intel and metro optical technology from Coriolis. These acquisitions are helping Telsima hasten product development, said Mr Dham. The large amount of interest India has generated among tier-one venture firms from the US is not making funding in India more competitive, he said, adding that it has made the job of raising funds more easier. “Several venture funds have told us that they are still not sure of India and that the country is very complex. They are asking us to be a channel for their entry into the country.” Mr Dham said that opportunity to fund is immense in India due to its rich talent pool. Besides IT, nano technology, bio-technology

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