Nimmagadda Prasad is in the news when he successdfully completed sale of Matrix Labs to Mylan Laboratories In c of USA. When he and his co-promoters invested close to Rs 6 crore for acquiring the loss-making Matrix Laboratories Ltd, they would not have never imagined that there could be a windfall six years down the line. Prasad, executive chairman of Matrix, netted over Rs 569 crore by divesting 12.1 per cent stake (1.86 crore equity shares) in the company to US generics major Mylan today. He still holds 5 per cent (about 77 lakh shares), worth about Rs 235 crore, in Matrix. No wonder he is rated as the fastest wealth generator in Pharma.
Born into an army officer's family, Mr Prasad had his education in Hyderabad and Delhi, and earned masters degrees in science and business administration. Starting his career in 1984 as a management trainee in Delhi in Indian Molasses Co., an associate of United Molasses Co of the UK, he joined Rhone-Poulenc Chemicals (India) Ltd., which is now part of sanofi aventis in 1989, where he was made regional sales manager in Hyderabad. Mr Prasad joined Vorin Laboratories as general manager (marketing) in 1993 and rose to the position of managing director in 1995. When Ranbaxy acquired a controlling stake in Vorin Laboratories in 1999, Mr Prasad was reappointed as senior MD and CEO. Mr Prasad became the chairman and CEO of Matrix Laboratories, after it was acquired by the present management. Subsequently, he took over the position of executive chairman of the company, appointing a CEO who had worked earlier with Sandoz and Novartis. Mr Prasad is credited with turning around loss-making companies that Matrix acquired - Medicorp, Fine Drugs & Chemicals and Vera Laboratories.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Monday, August 28, 2006
VC funds for Microfinance
BHANU PANDE & AMANPREET SINGH of Economic Times report that the last one year has seen the emergence of close to dozen funds dedicated to investment in microfinance institutions. The latest to hop on to the bandwagon is the Maharashtra government's VC Fund, Urjankur, which has roped in IL&FS to manage it. Urjankur is a dedicated microfinance fund.
The biggest investment in microfinance was made by Silicon Valley-based VC guru Vinod Khosla, who joined hands with Sidbi to invest $2.5 million in Hyderabad-based SKS Micro Finance a few months ago.
On similar lines, Actis India chief Donald Peck joined International Finance Corporation (IFC), UK-based CDC and others to invest in Delhi-based Lok Capital, a VC fund that plans to invest $12 million in microfinance projects.
Redmond-based Unitus Private Equity, along with the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, has invested in Bangalore-based microfinance fund Ujjivan Financial Services.
Vikram Akula, founder and CEO of SKS Microfinance, one of the world’s fastest-growing microfinance institutions, was named by TIME Magazine as one of “The People Who Shape Our World” for 2006.
Khosla along with Grameen Foundation, invested $5,00,000 in microfinance institution CASHPOR Financial and Technical services a few months ago.
ICICI bank already invested in three micro finance funds — Hyderabad-based Bellwether microfinance fund, Mumbai’s Avishkar-Goodwell Fund and Lok Capital.
The biggest investment in microfinance was made by Silicon Valley-based VC guru Vinod Khosla, who joined hands with Sidbi to invest $2.5 million in Hyderabad-based SKS Micro Finance a few months ago.
On similar lines, Actis India chief Donald Peck joined International Finance Corporation (IFC), UK-based CDC and others to invest in Delhi-based Lok Capital, a VC fund that plans to invest $12 million in microfinance projects.
Redmond-based Unitus Private Equity, along with the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, has invested in Bangalore-based microfinance fund Ujjivan Financial Services.
Vikram Akula, founder and CEO of SKS Microfinance, one of the world’s fastest-growing microfinance institutions, was named by TIME Magazine as one of “The People Who Shape Our World” for 2006.
Khosla along with Grameen Foundation, invested $5,00,000 in microfinance institution CASHPOR Financial and Technical services a few months ago.
ICICI bank already invested in three micro finance funds — Hyderabad-based Bellwether microfinance fund, Mumbai’s Avishkar-Goodwell Fund and Lok Capital.
Sunday, August 27, 2006
2006 Stockholm Water Prize
The Stockholm Water Prize was presented by H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria to Professor Asit K. Biswas during a ceremony at the Stockholm City Hall on Thursday 24 August.The Stockholm Water Prize is a global award founded in 1990 and presented annually to an individual, organisation or institution for outstanding water-related activities. The activities can be within fields like education and awareness-raising, human and international relations, research, water management and water-related aid. The Stockholm Water Prize Laureate receives USD 150,000 along with a glass sculpture. HM King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden is the Patron of the Stockholm Water Prize.
"Professor Biswas is awarded the Stockholm Water Prize for his outstanding and multi-faceted contributions to global water resource issues, including research, education and awareness, water management, human and international relations in both developed and developing countries. While many highly-qualified experts in aquatic disciplines distinguish themselves as academicians, others as practitioners, others as government advisors, and others as writers and lecturers, Professor Biswas with his wide knowledge is highly recognised in all of these areas and, most importantly, has over a broad front applied his skills internationally, thereby adding new dimensions to the wise use and management of the global water resources.
Prof. Asit K. Biswas was born in Balasore, India. He is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur,
"Professor Biswas is awarded the Stockholm Water Prize for his outstanding and multi-faceted contributions to global water resource issues, including research, education and awareness, water management, human and international relations in both developed and developing countries. While many highly-qualified experts in aquatic disciplines distinguish themselves as academicians, others as practitioners, others as government advisors, and others as writers and lecturers, Professor Biswas with his wide knowledge is highly recognised in all of these areas and, most importantly, has over a broad front applied his skills internationally, thereby adding new dimensions to the wise use and management of the global water resources.
Prof. Asit K. Biswas was born in Balasore, India. He is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur,
Friday, August 25, 2006
Complex semiconductor IP is an Indian opportunity
In 2005, the market for semiconductor intellectual property (IP) grew by 16 per cent to reach $1.4 billion. While patent-related IP revenues accounted for a large part of this growth, 2006 is turning out to be a strong year also for non-patent revenues. The IP market has consolidated over the last three years as traditional product categories are maturing and penetration of digital IP sockets is reaching saturation.
Looking forward, however, the demand for IP is evolving — mirroring the increasing complexity of the system-on-chip (SoC) devices that the IP is used in. The evolving IP industry will present new opportunities for the Indian semiconductor design services industry.
Semiconductor IP is crucial for the continuing progression of Moore's Law, especially for the design of more integrated SoCs. To keep up with Moore's Law, SoC designers require larger, more complex IP blocks. At present, these complex IP blocks tend to be designed by semiconductor vendors' in-house teams, though they will often be made up of simpler IP blocks acquired from the third-party market. But as semiconductor vendors shift their attention to the system-level challenges of designs with very large gate counts, they will also need third-party solutions for the more complex IP blocks. Gartner forecasts that the semiconductor IP industry will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 14 per cent over the next five years, to reach $2.7 billion by 2010. This forecast assumes that the IP industry will be able to meet the demand for more complex IP blocks.
Complex IP provides greater opportunity for differentiation than does simpler IP, which is often based on industry standards. Complex IP will include a programmable core and possibly some degree of configurability to achieve flexibility across multiple applications. Application expertise is required to optimize interactions between the compute core, peripherals and memory. Much of the differentiation will lie in the way functionality is partitioned across hardware and software and in providing SoC designers with streamlined interfaces that hide the complexity.
However, greater differentiation increases the demand for customization. Companies offering highly-differentiated, complex IP will need to adopt business models that can support fewer customers with higher-value IP deals. This brings the IP business model closer to that of design services—and poses the same challenges in terms of scalability.
(source: Christian Heidarson, Gartner Group EE Times Europe 08/17/2006 6:41 AM)
Looking forward, however, the demand for IP is evolving — mirroring the increasing complexity of the system-on-chip (SoC) devices that the IP is used in. The evolving IP industry will present new opportunities for the Indian semiconductor design services industry.
Semiconductor IP is crucial for the continuing progression of Moore's Law, especially for the design of more integrated SoCs. To keep up with Moore's Law, SoC designers require larger, more complex IP blocks. At present, these complex IP blocks tend to be designed by semiconductor vendors' in-house teams, though they will often be made up of simpler IP blocks acquired from the third-party market. But as semiconductor vendors shift their attention to the system-level challenges of designs with very large gate counts, they will also need third-party solutions for the more complex IP blocks. Gartner forecasts that the semiconductor IP industry will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 14 per cent over the next five years, to reach $2.7 billion by 2010. This forecast assumes that the IP industry will be able to meet the demand for more complex IP blocks.
Complex IP provides greater opportunity for differentiation than does simpler IP, which is often based on industry standards. Complex IP will include a programmable core and possibly some degree of configurability to achieve flexibility across multiple applications. Application expertise is required to optimize interactions between the compute core, peripherals and memory. Much of the differentiation will lie in the way functionality is partitioned across hardware and software and in providing SoC designers with streamlined interfaces that hide the complexity.
However, greater differentiation increases the demand for customization. Companies offering highly-differentiated, complex IP will need to adopt business models that can support fewer customers with higher-value IP deals. This brings the IP business model closer to that of design services—and poses the same challenges in terms of scalability.
(source: Christian Heidarson, Gartner Group EE Times Europe 08/17/2006 6:41 AM)
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
TiE – ISB Connect 2006
India’s largest networking event for entrepreneurs and investors, the TiE – ISB Connect, will be held from September 20 to September 22, 2006 at the ISB Campus in Hyderabad. TiE – ISB Connect is a unique forum that enables aspiring entrepreneurs, early-stage ventures, and growth-stage ventures to interact with potential investors, successful entrepreneurs and mentors. For Entrepreneurs Seeking OpportunitiesThis year’s event will feature eight tracks, each discussing entrepreneurial opportunities in sunrise sectors. The sectors to be covered are: • Biotech / Pharmaceuticals• Internet Technologies• Retail• Media and Entertainment• Technology• Infrastructure and Real Estate• IT / ITES Services• Sports and Fitness.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Nadathur Holdings
Nadathur Holdings and Investments Pvt. Ltd. is an investment firm established by N.S. Raghavan , Founder and Former Joint Managing Director of Infosys. It is one of the
few angel investors in India funding high-risk, long gestation R&D ventures.
Examples- Metahelix, one of the few agri-biotech companies in India developing GM crop
varieties that are drought and pest tolerant.
-Connexios, a pure play early stage drug discovery firm that leverages network biology, computation, structural chemistry, technology and Traditional Indian Systems of medicine to discover Novel Chemical Entities (NCE).
-CADES, a high-end aerospace design & engineering services firm
- REACH Technologies, aleading IT solutions company with focus on the global apparel, home furnishings and leather.
and many more
few angel investors in India funding high-risk, long gestation R&D ventures.
Examples- Metahelix, one of the few agri-biotech companies in India developing GM crop
varieties that are drought and pest tolerant.
-Connexios, a pure play early stage drug discovery firm that leverages network biology, computation, structural chemistry, technology and Traditional Indian Systems of medicine to discover Novel Chemical Entities (NCE).
-CADES, a high-end aerospace design & engineering services firm
- REACH Technologies, aleading IT solutions company with focus on the global apparel, home furnishings and leather.
and many more
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Rajasthan Venture Capital Fund (RVCF)
Rajasthan Venture Capital Fund (RVCF) has been conceptualised and funded by the Rajasthan State Industrial Development & Investment Corporation Limited (RIICO) and the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). RVCF aims at investing in companies in the Information Technology, Bio- Technology , Retail, Tourism, Entertainment and other technology-driven industries in India with focus on Rajasthan and NCR such as Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida. The Fund's investment in companies is through the route of equity, quasi-equity and debt instruments.
Indra K. Nooyi
Enrollment in science graduation courses have seen a perceptible fall in Delhi. The general decline of interest in science is a cause for concern. Perception of job prospects shape the preferences of young students , where media plays a significant role.
How far can a science student go up on the corportae ladder- well the highest possible. Indra K. Nooyi , a science grduate from Madras Christian College in India has been anointed as the CEO of PepsiCo, with $33 billion in sales, the largest United States company by market capitalization.
How far can a science student go up on the corportae ladder- well the highest possible. Indra K. Nooyi , a science grduate from Madras Christian College in India has been anointed as the CEO of PepsiCo, with $33 billion in sales, the largest United States company by market capitalization.
DSP (Digital Signal Processing) Training
Center for DSP (Digital Signal Processing) Training is promoted by Signion Systems Ltd., the leading DSP company in India. The center is industry supported and therefore industry driven. The center will concentrate on training in DSP applications and standards. Dr Sriram Jayasimha, the promoter, is an electrical engineer from IIT M and fellow of MIT with e long standing industrial experience in DSP applications with many national and international customers.
Signion has alliances with Texas Instruments, Analog Devices and other DSP chip vendors. As a result, CDT has access to the latest hardware and software development tools for almost all DSP families of devices. These tools will be available for lab use by CDT trainees.
Signion has alliances with Texas Instruments, Analog Devices and other DSP chip vendors. As a result, CDT has access to the latest hardware and software development tools for almost all DSP families of devices. These tools will be available for lab use by CDT trainees.
Sonique software
when someone excites Bill gates with his innovation, it must be worth noting. Deepak Jagdish and his team created Sonique software to assist blind people. It is inspired by echo-location used by bats and helps visually challenged to perceive their surroundings and move around more safely and more easily.
click to see image
The users need to have a palmtop PC cum mobile phone for this software solution to work.The blue tooth technology is used to communicate signals emanating from objects. These signals are translated into sound frequencies and conveyed to a visually challenged person through a headphone.
click to see team details
click to see image
The users need to have a palmtop PC cum mobile phone for this software solution to work.The blue tooth technology is used to communicate signals emanating from objects. These signals are translated into sound frequencies and conveyed to a visually challenged person through a headphone.
click to see team details
Monday, August 14, 2006
Tragic fate of handloom artisian
Several stories have been written about the tragic fate of master craftsman in India. This one is about handloom weaver Parandhamulu, who died at the age of 50 years of heart attack. He was well known for weaving saries that fit into a match box. Difficult to beieve.. see images
Saturday, August 12, 2006
self evaluation for VC funding
Billions of dollars of risk capital is on the look out for bankable ideas, yet most start-ups find in reality they do not even get an acknowledgement for their applications filed( unsolicited). Take the self evaluation route to see for yrself whether yr business idea excites a VC.
Self evaluation
Try to answer the following questions, it will help you as self evaluation and for funding agencies to understand your case.
A. Nature of product/service1. What does it do?2. Who is the user?3. Can it do anything else?4. What stage of development..lab testing, on-site beta testing, has had product sales/existing customers? What is the feedback so far? How did you get your product into the test site or identify it for sale? Who arranged the deal? Pricing model? Maintenance?5. Identified any potential difficulties or negatives about the product or service?6. Competition? Who? How long in market? Direct or justsimilar? Pricing model? What is their distribution channel like?
B. Target Marketplace for the product/service1. Size of company2. Who own the IP, what is IP classified as and is it globally applicable?3. Type of company4. Geography5. Other demographic?6. Why these? Priority of the above? How manyexecutives/decision makers in these types of "ideal" companies have been spoken to directly about what's being offered, their willingness to purchase from a small, start-up company, their actual need to resolve the below business issues with some sort of urgency, what they were willing to pay to make these business issues go away, and can they. when/how would they go about getting funding for that type of pain relief?
C. Business issues that the product solves1. Main and secondary benefits of product2. What would happen if these business issues go unresolved? Is this a "must have" product/service or a "nice to have?"3. Who is the most likely contact/title that would own thebusiness issue? Why? Discuss pitfalls of working with thistitle/contact only4. ..any secondary titles?5. What else might it be able to resolve?
D. Discuss what's been done already to confirm any of the above information?
E. How do they or plan to keep track of what's been said, sent, or done to what prospect companies?1. Who's going to take care of fulfilment, follow-up, and / or sales calls once prospects have been identified?2. Company organization.who's who, doing what?
F. Discuss how they see their growth path - which below scenarios and why.1. Sell company to highest bidder as soon as possible?2. Develop relationship to distribute or sell product/service with a partner(s) under partner's branding3. Outsource manufacturing, distribution, and or sales under your name/brand?4. Sell licensing arrangements to existing, established companies in the same marketplace5. Develop own internal manufacturing, distribution, and/or sales force.
G. What are they doing to put themselves in a position to grow in any of these directions.what information are they relying upon in making these choices.
Self evaluation
Try to answer the following questions, it will help you as self evaluation and for funding agencies to understand your case.
A. Nature of product/service1. What does it do?2. Who is the user?3. Can it do anything else?4. What stage of development..lab testing, on-site beta testing, has had product sales/existing customers? What is the feedback so far? How did you get your product into the test site or identify it for sale? Who arranged the deal? Pricing model? Maintenance?5. Identified any potential difficulties or negatives about the product or service?6. Competition? Who? How long in market? Direct or justsimilar? Pricing model? What is their distribution channel like?
B. Target Marketplace for the product/service1. Size of company2. Who own the IP, what is IP classified as and is it globally applicable?3. Type of company4. Geography5. Other demographic?6. Why these? Priority of the above? How manyexecutives/decision makers in these types of "ideal" companies have been spoken to directly about what's being offered, their willingness to purchase from a small, start-up company, their actual need to resolve the below business issues with some sort of urgency, what they were willing to pay to make these business issues go away, and can they. when/how would they go about getting funding for that type of pain relief?
C. Business issues that the product solves1. Main and secondary benefits of product2. What would happen if these business issues go unresolved? Is this a "must have" product/service or a "nice to have?"3. Who is the most likely contact/title that would own thebusiness issue? Why? Discuss pitfalls of working with thistitle/contact only4. ..any secondary titles?5. What else might it be able to resolve?
D. Discuss what's been done already to confirm any of the above information?
E. How do they or plan to keep track of what's been said, sent, or done to what prospect companies?1. Who's going to take care of fulfilment, follow-up, and / or sales calls once prospects have been identified?2. Company organization.who's who, doing what?
F. Discuss how they see their growth path - which below scenarios and why.1. Sell company to highest bidder as soon as possible?2. Develop relationship to distribute or sell product/service with a partner(s) under partner's branding3. Outsource manufacturing, distribution, and or sales under your name/brand?4. Sell licensing arrangements to existing, established companies in the same marketplace5. Develop own internal manufacturing, distribution, and/or sales force.
G. What are they doing to put themselves in a position to grow in any of these directions.what information are they relying upon in making these choices.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Micro Technologies (I) Ltd
NASSCOM president Kiran Karnik launched Micro Technologies (I) Ltd's 'Micro VBB Marshal', a customized security product for the ITeS and BPO industry, at the 7th Auto Expo held at New Delhi.
Micro VBB Marshal is a mobile phone and GIS-based vehicle location and tracking applications security product with RFID. This product has features like vehicle location monitoring (cell based), tele-matics (two-way communication), emergency messaging and intrusion detection and vehicle immobilization. The antitheft device with various sensors installed in the vehicle converts the mechanical action into digital command and passes it to the registered user's mobile phone/control panel in the shape of an SMS and the vice-versa. This box senses any intrusion of vehicle doors and immediately communicates such events to the registered user's mobile through SMS.It also features a Panic button, which is installed both in drivers as well as passenger cabin. This button can be used in case of emergency and communicated to the control panel about the emergency in the vehicle. The vehicles registered user can control his/her vehicle globally by sending command from mobile as SMS to “Micro VBB”.
Micro VBB had received the acceptance for Patent as per the Acceptance Intimation 287/MUM/2004/5119 from the Indian Patent office. A PCT (patent co-operation treaty) international application has also been filed for the International Patent in 123 countries including USA for the same.
Home page : http://www.microtechnologies.net/
Micro VBB Marshal is a mobile phone and GIS-based vehicle location and tracking applications security product with RFID. This product has features like vehicle location monitoring (cell based), tele-matics (two-way communication), emergency messaging and intrusion detection and vehicle immobilization. The antitheft device with various sensors installed in the vehicle converts the mechanical action into digital command and passes it to the registered user's mobile phone/control panel in the shape of an SMS and the vice-versa. This box senses any intrusion of vehicle doors and immediately communicates such events to the registered user's mobile through SMS.It also features a Panic button, which is installed both in drivers as well as passenger cabin. This button can be used in case of emergency and communicated to the control panel about the emergency in the vehicle. The vehicles registered user can control his/her vehicle globally by sending command from mobile as SMS to “Micro VBB”.
Micro VBB had received the acceptance for Patent as per the Acceptance Intimation 287/MUM/2004/5119 from the Indian Patent office. A PCT (patent co-operation treaty) international application has also been filed for the International Patent in 123 countries including USA for the same.
Home page : http://www.microtechnologies.net/
Ramakrishnan Srikant
ACM SIGKDD announced that Ramakrishnan Srikant is the winner of its 2006 Innovation Award. Srikant is recognized for his seminal work on mining association rules and privacy preserving data mining.
ACM SIGKDD Innovation Award is the highest technical award in the field of data mining and knowledge discovery. It is given to one individual or one group of collaborators who has made significant technical innovations in the field of Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery that have been transferred to practice in significant ways, or that have significantly influenced direction of research and development in the field.
(source : http://www.kdnuggets.com/news/2006/n15/4i.html)
Dr. Srikant received his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and his B. Tech. from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.
( personal page :http://www.rsrikant.com/)
ACM SIGKDD Innovation Award is the highest technical award in the field of data mining and knowledge discovery. It is given to one individual or one group of collaborators who has made significant technical innovations in the field of Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery that have been transferred to practice in significant ways, or that have significantly influenced direction of research and development in the field.
(source : http://www.kdnuggets.com/news/2006/n15/4i.html)
Dr. Srikant received his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and his B. Tech. from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.
( personal page :http://www.rsrikant.com/)
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