One97 Communications today announced a fund raising from Intel Capital, with previous investor Silicon Valley Bank also participating. The company operates in the Mobile VAS space, and competes with the likes of OnMobile Global, Bharti Telesoft, Cellebrum, IMI Mobile and ValueFirst. We spoke to Vijay Shekhar Sharma, MD of One97 Communications about their plans. Part 1 of this interview covers where they're going to use the money, incubation plans, international markets, dependancy on mobile operators, and the threat from International VAS companies setting up shop in India. The Funding And Where It's Going To Be Used How much funding have you raised? Intel has invested $23 Million in 3 companies... We've raised funding from Intel and SVB, in all in 2 digits, but I can't talk about the exact amount. When we'd spoken in May, you had said you'll raise $25 Million. What happened? It's less...less than $18 million. We were looking to buy companies, but later decided against it. Our organic plans still remain, and we have commitment for more money from the same fund if the opportunity arises. Where will you use the money? We are going to incubate some companies. We are showing tremendous growth, of the order of hundreds of percent year-on-year, and we will continue for the next two years, for which we need this significant investment. Last year we invested around $15 million our business, from the VC investment and internal accruals. This year, we should invest around $30 million. We've been able to…
Investment
One97 To Invest $30 Million In Organic Growth; $25M Revenues, Targeting $100M in 2010 – Vijay Shekhar Sharma
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