Venture Capitalists (VCs) investing in India

Xconomy.com just reported on the leading New England VCs investing in India. Matrix Partners and Canaan Partners led the way, even if they are a bit behind VC firms that have set up significant India-funds and teams. As they report

A report from Dow Jones VentureSource shows that venture capital investment collected by entrepreneurs in India nearly tripled in 2007, totaling $928 million across 80 separate deals, as compared to just $349 million for 36 deals in 2006. It was “easily the highest total on record for the region,” according to the Dow Jones report, which was released today. Some 48 percent of the funding went to information technology companies…

Within India’s IT sector, Web-based information services companies captured the biggest chunk of venture cash, accounting for 22 deals worth almost $141 million.

Here’s the list of the top 20 investors placing equity-based venture investments in Indian companies in 2007. (All data courtesy of Dow Jones Venture Source.)

Name	Type of Fund	Number of Deals
Draper Fisher Jurvetson	Venture Capital	7
IDG Ventures India	Venture Capital	6
Intel Capital	Corporate VC	5
Sequoia Capital	Venture Capital	4
Erasmic Venture Fund	Venture Capital	3
Matrix Partners	Venture Capital	3
Velocity Interactive Group	Venture Capital	2
Canaan Partners	Venture Capital	2
Carlyle Group	Private Equity	2
SVB Financial Group	Investment Bank	2
Clearstone Venture Partners	Venture Capital	2
UTI Venture Funds	Venture Capital	2
GVFL	Venture Capital	2
Temasek Holdings	Other	2
ICICI Venture Funds Management	Venture Capital	2
Silicon Valley Bank	Other	2
SIDBI Venture Capital	Venture Capital	2
Individual Investors	Angel Investor	2
New Enterprise Associates	Venture Capital	2
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers	Venture Capital	2

Elections in Pakistan: What do the results mean for democracy and for Pakistan?

This won’t be a long post. There is too much being written by too many people on the elections in Pakistan- and frankly there is not much fresh stuff to be shared with people who are frequent followers of the newspaper op-ed sections, political pundits on NPR and cable talk shows, and Pakistani newspapers. Their analyses, which sometimes turn into repetitious rants esp if they write weekly columns, have focused on a few matters which I list below.

This is not an exhaustive list, and while it may appear that I am unhappy with the analysis that I have read so far, that is not the case. I just feel there is not much new stuff coming out when there should be…come one, our country is re-entering democracy after a long break and we really can do better than look back and pontificate on the past. Where is the guidance on the future, and how to make democracy work this time?…Anyways…here’s what is being discussed:

1. This is the beginning of the end for Musharraf. His party has badly lost in these elections.
2. Pakistani people braved fears of violence and still came out to vote for their candidates
3. Despite accusations of rigging, somehow Musharraf managed to allow his opposition parties to score large victories
4. Seeming victory of PPP, PML (N) and ANP signify that people want change from the status quo
5. Public has rejected the religious parties, esp in the northern provinces
6. PPP and PML (N) will form a coalition government of sort
7. What will happen to Karachi where majority of seats were again won by MQM which has been a strong supporter of Musharraf
8. Will the fired Chief Justice get re-instated?

I have surprised myself by not writing or speaking much about these elections. It was actually emails from friends who have asked for my thoughts on the elections that has triggered this note. For the past few months, in all honesty, I have been pre-occupied with work and worries about my family’s safety in Pakistan. You know your country is in deep trouble when find yourself on the phone with your brother, telling him to not grow his shave too much lest he be taken for religious worker in the election mayhem. Or telling your father that he should carry the cell phone in case he has to abandon the car and take refuge somewhere. At least he will be able to call home and give his whereabouts to the family.

Yes, there was intense fear surrounding these elections - esp in the aftermath of the murder of Benazir Bhutto and the series of suicide bombs that rocked most major cities in the country. Fortunately for Pakistan, those fears did not ring true and the elections event has passed without much serious trouble. Now that I am less worried about the security issues in Pakistan, here are some quick thoughts on what I feel is going on…

I think the political pundits should shut up for a week or so and spend the time reading through the party manifestos of those who have won. The media needs to now focus on the promises that parties and individual winners have made to their constituencies so a process of ‘real’ and meaningful accountability of the elected representatives starts from their first day at the new job. We have heard enough about the need for democracy. Thank you very much for promoting it. Now lets get down to the dirty business of making democracy work.

Press Clipping(s): Innovation and the University-Industry Interface

A very interesting discussion on University and Industry collaboration on Innovation was initiated by Kenan Sahin, the president and CEO of TIAX (former A.D. Little Consulting’s technology practice). Check it out on Xconomy.com.

Innovation and the University-Industry Interface

from Xconomy by Kenan Sahin

Universities, Business, innovation

Kenan Sahin wrote:

Editor’s note: This article was published last July 2, during our first week in existence. Given the attention to last week’s post by Chris Gabrieli questioning Harvard’s legacy of tech transfer, we wanted to share Sahin’s thoughtful observations with a wider audience.

The buzzword of the 1980s and ’90s was “entrepreneurship.” This decade, the obsession is with “innovation” as the presumed path to riches for people and nations. Since the key generators of innovation are research universities and the key implementers of innovation are companies, there is an ever-increasing focus on making the university and industry interface more effective. But will the twain meet? It could be very difficult.

The question is critical, and there is no better place to ask than here in Kendall Square, at the confluence of great universities, multinational companies in both the life sciences and information technology, and scores of start-ups.

Though hugely complementary, academic and industrial entities hold different values and are motivated by different incentives. One key to surmounting the many obstacles to successful collaboration is to better understand the two worlds, identifying those differences that are truly reconcilable, temporarily reconcilable, and totally irreconcilable. There’s no point in dealing with irreconcilable areas.

Obama: Yes we can!

Two very interesting music videos supporting Obama. I so like his speech delivery! Uplifting.

Tesla’s turn to electric-hybrid for next gen cars

I have argued before that plug-in electric cars that also have a small diesel or gasoline fueled engine, for operation when batteries have already spent their charge, will fare much better than the electric cars that some companies have proposed. I, for one, would feel much better investing in a high end car that I knew would not leave me stranded on the side of a road if I get stuck in traffic, or if I decide to make a few wrong turns and get lost in the middle of this country. I am all for a car that gives 100mpg+ (e.g. Tesla gives 135mpg in all-electric mode) but it should not be a toy that may not work at times.

That is why the news that Tesla’s second generation car platform, called WhiteStar, will include a small gasoline engine is great news. This would make their $80-100K luxury/sports car much more usable for a wider audience. I believe they still need to prove they can make money as a sub-scale manufacturer and not remain a tiny niche play in toys, but certainly White Star’s concept is, in my humble opinion, headed the right direction.

Tesla to make gas-electric car

Tesla Motors, the people who put the all-electric car on the map, are going to work with gas too.

The San Carlos, Calif.-based company will produce two basic types of its Whitestar sedan, due toward the end of 2009. One will run completely on batteries. The other will be a range-extended vehicle, or REV, CEO Ze’ev Drori said in an interview. In an REV, a small gas motor recharges the battery pack while the car is being driven. The battery pack on these types of cars only goes about 40 to 50 miles on a charge, but because it gets recharged while driving, the range of these cars will be longer

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