Web18 Holdings, TV18s Internet and mobile subsidiary, has received an approval from the TV18 board to raise $10 million from Nokia Growth Partners, a venture capital fund. NGP II Mauritius Company Limited will invest "strategic growth capital" into Web18 Holdings, according to a filing with BSE last week. Web18 has previously raised $10 million in investment from Tracer Capital in October 2006. In a brief conversation with MediaNama, Web18 CEO Surya Mantha said that the company will be investing the money in growing their existing properties, and will also seek to enhance their offerings in the mobile space, including voice based services. Web18 has primarily focused on the Internet business, and on mobile, has a mobile application, SMS based services on 51818 and 52622, and WAP sites powered by July Systems. On the specifics of where exactly such a large sum of money will be invested, Mantha said it's too early to comment on that. IPO Plans IPO plans for Web18 are on hold until the market improves. Mantha said that "The IPO will be done at an appropriate time. The markets have to come back. We filed with the SEC in December. As a group (Network18) we like the capital markets and are known to unlock value." About whether profitability is an imperative before the IPO, he said that they would like the company to be profitable. "That is something that investors would welcome." Investment Size; Profitability? The quantum of the investment and plans to invest in "growth capital"…
