FINAL REPORT

ON
“Study of Venture Capital
in India and its Aspects”
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement of MBA Degree of
Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak

Under the supervision of:

Mr Vivek Bhatia
Faculty International Business, ITM Gurgaon
Submitted by:
sandeep arora
07-MBA-127
Session 2007-2009

Institute of Technology and Management

Gurgaon

Project Report – Institute of Technology and Management, Gurgaon

 Acknowledgement
“No Learning is proper and effective without
Proper Guidance”

Every study is incomplete without having a well plan and concrete exposure to the
student. Management studies are not exception. Scope of the project at this level is
very wide ranging. On the other hand it provide sound basis to adopt the theoretical
knowledge and on the other hand it gives an opportunities for exposure to real time
situation.

This study is an internal part of our MBA program and to do this project in a short
period was a heavy task.

Intention, dedication, concentration and hard work are very much essential to
complete any task. But still it needs a lot of support, guidance, assistance, co-
operation of people to make it successful.

I bear to imprint of my people who have given me, their precious ideas and times to
enable me to complete the research and the project report. I want to thanks them for
their continuous support in my research and writing efforts.

I wish to record my thanks and indebtedness to Mr Vivek Bhatia - Faculty

International Business, ITM Gurgaon, whose inspiration, dedication and helping
nature provided me the kind of guidance necessary to complete this project.

I am extremely grateful to management of Institute of Technology &

Management, Gurgaon for granting me permission to be part of this college.

I would also like to acknowledge my parents and my batch mates for their guidance
and blessings

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 Table of Content
1. Introduction
2. Significance of Study
3. Objective of Study
4. Research Methodology
 Literature Review
 Conceptual Framework
 Operational Definition
5. Analysis & Interpretation
6. Findings
7. Suggestions
8. Conclusion
9. Limitation
10. Bibliographies
11. Annexure

ANNEXURE I – NAME OF VENTURE CAPITAL FIRMS OUT

SIDE OF INDIA

ANNEXURE II – NAME OF VENTURE CAPITAL FIRMS IN

INDIA.

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 Introduction

A number of technocrats are seeking to set up shop on their own and capitalize on
opportunities. In the highly dynamic economic climate that surrounds us today, few
‘traditional’ business models may survive. Countries across the globe are realizing
that it is not the conglomerates and the gigantic corporations that fuel economic
growth any more. The essence of any economy today is the small and medium
enterprises. For example, in the US, 50% of the exports are created by companies
with less than 20 employees and only 7% are created by companies with 500 or more
employees. This growing trend can be attributed to rapid advances in technology in
the last decade. Knowledge driven industries like InfoTech, health-care,
entertainment and services have become the cynosure of bourses worldwide. In these
sectors, it is innovation and technical capability that are big business-drivers. This is a
paradigm shift from the earlier physical production and ‘economies of scale’ model.
However, starting an enterprise is never easy. There are a number of parameters that
contribute to its success or downfall. Experience, integrity, prudence and a clear
understanding of the market are among the sought after qualities of a promoter.
However, there are other factors, which lie beyond the control of the entrepreneur.
Prominent among these is the timely infusion of funds. This is where the venture
capitalist comes in, with money, business sense and a lot more.

What is Venture Capital???

The venture capital investment helps for the growth of innovative entrepreneurships
in India. Venture capital has developed as a result of the need to provide non-
conventional, risky finance to new ventures based on innovative entrepreneurship.

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Venture capital is an investment in the form of equity, quasi-equity and sometimes
debt - straight or conditional, made in new or untried concepts, promoted by a
technically or professionally qualified entrepreneur. Venture capital means risk
capital. It refers to capital investment, both equity and debt, which carries substantial
risk and uncertainties. The risk envisaged may be very high may be so high as to
result in total loss or very less so as to result in high gains

The concept of Venture Capital

Venture capital means many things to many people. It is in fact nearly impossible to
come across one single definition of the concept.

Jane Koloski Morris, editor of the well known industry publication, Venture
Economics, defines venture capital as 'providing seed, start-up and first stage
financing' and also 'funding the expansion of companies that have already
demonstrated their business potential but do not yet have access to the public
securities market or to credit oriented institutional funding sources.

The European Venture Capital Association describes it as risk finance for

entrepreneurial growth oriented companies. It is investment for the medium or long
term return seeking to maximize medium or long term for both parties. It is a
partnership with the entrepreneur in which the investor can add value to the company
because of his knowledge, experience and contact base.

Meaning of venture capital

Venture capital is money provided by professionals who invest alongside

management in young, rapidly growing companies that have the potential to develop
into significant economic contributors. Venture capital is an important source of
equity for start-up companies.

Professionally managed venture capital firms generally are private partnerships or

closely-held corporations funded by private and public pension funds, endowment
funds, foundations, corporations, wealthy individuals, foreign investors, and the
venture capitalists themselves.

Venture capitalists generally:

 Finance new and rapidly growing companies

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  Purchase equity securities

 Assist in the development of new products or services

 Add value to the company through active participation

 Take higher risks with the expectation of higher rewards

 Have a long-term orientation

When considering an investment, venture capitalists carefully screen the technical

and business merits of the proposed company. Venture capitalists only invest in a
small percentage of the businesses they review and have a long-term perspective.
They also actively work with the company's management, especially with contacts
and strategy formulation.

Venture capitalists mitigate the risk of investing by developing a portfolio of young

companies in a single venture fund. Many times they co-invest with other
professional venture capital firms. In addition, many venture partnerships manage
multiple funds simultaneously. For decades, venture capitalists have nurtured the
growth of America's high technology and entrepreneurial communities resulting in
significant job creation, economic growth and international competitiveness.
Companies such as Digital Equipment Corporation, Apple, Federal Express, Compaq,
Sun Microsystems, Intel, Microsoft and Genetech are famous examples of companies
that received venture capital early in their development.

(Source: National Venture Capital Association 1999 Year book)

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Private Equity Investing

Venture capital investing has grown from a small investment pool in the 1960s and
early 1970s to a mainstream asset class that is a viable and significant part of the
institutional and corporate investment portfolio. Recently, some investors have been
referring to venture investing and buyout investing as "private equity investing." This
term can be confusing because some in the investment industry use the term "private
equity" to refer only to buyout fund investing. In any case, an institutional investor
will allocate 2% to 3% of their institutional portfolio for investment in alternative
assets such as private equity or venture capital as part of their overall asset allocation.
Currently, over 50% of investments in venture capital/private equity comes from
institutional public and private pension funds, with the balance coming from
endowments, foundations, insurance companies, banks, individuals and other entities
who seek to diversify their portfolio with this investment class.

What is a Venture Capitalist?

The typical person-on-the-street depiction of a venture capitalist is that of a wealthy

financier who wants to fund start-up companies. The perception is that a person who
develops a brand new change-the-world invention needs capital; thus, if they can’t get
capital from a bank or from their own pockets, they enlist the help of a venture
capitalist.

In truth, venture capital and private equity firms are pools of capital, typically
organized as a limited partnership that invests in companies that represent the
opportunity for a high rate of return within five to seven years. The venture capitalist
may look at several hundred investment opportunities before investing in only a few
selected companies with favorable investment opportunities. Far from being simply
passive financiers, venture capitalists foster growth in companies through their
involvement in the management, strategic marketing and planning of their investee
companies. They are entrepreneurs first and financiers second.

Even individuals may be venture capitalists. In the early days of venture capital
investment, in the 1950s and 1960s, individual investors were the archetypal venture

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investor. While this type of individual investment did not totally disappear, the
modern venture firm emerged as the dominant venture investment vehicle. However,
in the last few years, individuals have again become a potent and increasingly larger
part of the early stage start-up venture life cycle. These "angel investors" will mentor
a company and provide needed capital and expertise to help develop companies.
Angel investors may either be wealthy people with management expertise or retired
business men and women who seek the opportunity for first-hand business
development.

Factor to be considered by venture capitalist in

selection of investment proposal
There are basically four key elements in financing of ventures which are studied in
depth by the venture capitalists. These are:
1. Management The strength, expertise & unity of the key people on the board bring
significant credibility to the company. The members are to be mature, experienced
possessing working knowledge of business and capable of taking potentially high
risks.

2. Potential for Capital Gain An above average rate of return of about 30 - 40% is
required by venture capitalists. The rate of return also depends upon the stage of the
business cycle where funds are being deployed. Earlier the stage, higher is the risk
and hence the return.

3. Realistic Financial Requirement and Projections The venture capitalist requires

a realistic view about the present health of the organization as well as future
projections regarding scope, nature and performance of the company in terms of scale
of operations, operating profit and further costs related to product development
through Research & Development.

4. Owner's Financial Stake The financial resources owned & committed by the
entrepreneur/ owner in the business including the funds invested by family, friends
and relatives play a very important role in increasing the viability of the business. It is
an important avenue where the venture capitalist keeps an open eye.

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 A Brief History
The concept of venture capital is not new. Venture capitalists often relate the story of
Christopher Columbus. In the fifteenth century, he sought to travel westwards instead
of eastwards from Europe and so planned to reach India. His far-fetched idea did not
find favor with the King of Portugal, who refused to finance him. Finally, Queen
Isabella of Spain decided to fund him and the voyages of Christopher Columbus are
now empanelled in history.

The modern venture capital industry began taking shape in the post – World War II
years. It is often said that people decide to become entrepreneurs because they see
role models in other people who have become successful entrepreneurs. Much the
same thing can be said about venture capitalists. The earliest members of the
organized venture capital industry had several role models, including these three:

American Research and Development Corporation, formed in 1946, whose

biggest success was Digital Equipment. The founder of ARD was General Georges
Doroit, a French-born military man who is considered "the father of venture
capital." In the 1950s, he taught at the Harvard Business School. His lectures on the
importance of risk capital were considered quirky by the rest of the faculty, who
concentrated on conventional corporate management.

J.H. Whitney & Co also formed in 1946, one of whose early hits was Minute Maid
juice. Jock Whitney is considered one of the industry’s founders.

The Rockefeller Family, and in particular, L S Rockefeller, one of whose earliest

investments was in Eastern Airlines, which is now defunct but was one of the earliest
commercial airlines.

The Second World War produced an abundance of technological innovation,

primarily with military applications. They include, for example, some of the earliest
work on micro circuitry. Indeed, J.H. Whitney’s investment in Minute Maid was

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intended to commercialize an orange juice concentrate that had been developed to
provide nourishment for troops in the field.

In the mid-1950s, the U.S. federal government wanted to speed the development of
advanced technologies. In 1957, the Federal Reserve System conducted a study that
concluded that a shortage of entrepreneurial financing was a chief obstacle to the
development of what it called "entrepreneurial businesses." As a response this a
number of Small Business Investment Companies (SBIC) were established to
"leverage" their private capital by borrowing from the federal government at below-
market interest rates. Soon commercial banks were allowed to form SBICs and within
four years, nearly 600 SBICs were in operation.

At the same time a number of venture capital firms were forming private partnerships
outside the SBIC format. These partnerships added to the venture capitalist’s toolkit,
by offering a degree of flexibility that SBICs lack. Within a decade, private venture
capital partnerships passed SBICs in total capital under management.

The 1960s saw a tremendous bull IPO market that allowed venture capital firms to
demonstrate their ability to create companies and produce huge investment returns.
For example, when Digital Equipment went public in 1968 it provided ARD with
101% annualized Return on Investment (ROI). The US$70,000 Digital invested to
start the company in 1959 had a market value of US$37mn. As a result, venture
capital became a hot market, particularly for wealthy individuals and families.
However, it was still considered too risky for institutional investors.

In the 1970s, though, venture capital suffered a double-whammy. First, a red-hot IPO
market brought over 1,000 venture-backed companies to market in 1968, the public
markets went into a seven-year slump. There were a lot of disappointed stock market
investors and a lot of disappointed venture capital investors too. Then in 1974, after
Congress legislation against the abuse of pension fund money, all high-risk
investment of these funds was halted. As a result of poor public market and the
pension fund legislation, venture capital fund raising hit rock bottom in 1975.

Well, things could only get better from there. Beginning in 1978, a series of
legislative and regulatory changes gradually improved the climate for venture

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investing. First Congress slashed the capital gains tax rate to 28% from 49.5%. Then
the Labor Department issued a clarification that eliminated the pension funds act as
an obstacle to venture investing. At around the same time, there was a number of
high-profile IPOs by venture-backed companies. These included Federal Express in
1978, and Apple Computer and Genetech Inc in 1981. This rekindled interest in
venture capital on the part of wealthy families and institutional investors. Indeed, in
the 1980s, the venture capital industry began its greatest period of growth. In 1980,
venture firms raised and invested less than US$600 million. That number soared to
nearly US$4bn by 1987. The decade also marked the explosion in the buy-out
business.

The late 1980s marked the transition of the primary source of venture capital funds
from wealthy individuals and families to endowment, pension and other institutional
funds. The surge in capital in the 1980s had predictable results. Returns on venture
capital investments plunged. Many investors went into the funds anticipating returns
of 30% or higher. That was probably an unrealistic expectation to begin with. The
consensus today is that private equity investments generally should give the investor
an internal rate of return something to the order of 15% to 25%, depending upon the
degree of risk the firm is taking.

However, by 1990, the average long-term return on venture capital funds fell below
8%, leading to yet another downturn in venture funding. Disappointed families and
institutions withdrew from venture investing in droves in the 1989-91 periods. The
economic recovery and the IPO boom of 1991-94 have gone a long way towards
reversing the trend in both private equity investment performance and partnership
commitments.

In 1998, the venture capital industry in the United States continued its seventh
straight year of growth. It raised US$25bn in committed capital for investments by
venture firms, who invested over US$16bn into domestic growth companies US firms
have traditionally been the biggest participants in venture deals, but non-US venture
investment is growing. In India, venture funding more than doubled from $420
million in 2002 to almost $1 billion in 2003. For the first half of 2004, venture capital
investment rose 32% from 2003.

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 Venture Capital in INDIA
Venture capital was introduced in India in mid eighties by All India Financial
Institutions with the inauguration of Risk Capital Foundation (RCF) sponsored by
IFCI with a view to encourage the technologists and the professional to promote new
industries. Consequently the government of India promoted the venture capital during
1986-87 by creating a venture capital fund in the context of structural development
and growth of small-scale business enterprises. Since then several venture capital
firms/funds (VCFs) are incorporated by Financial Institutions (FIs), Public Sector
Banks (PSBs), and Private Banks and Private Financial companies.
The Indian Venture Capital Industry (IVCI) is just about a decade old industry
as compared to that in Europe and US. In this short span it has nurtured close to one
thousand ventures, mostly in SME segment and has supported building
technocrat/professionals all through. The VC industry, through its investment in high
growth companies as well as companies adopting newer technologies backed by first
generation entrepreneurs, has made a substantial contribution to economy. In India,
however, the potential of venture capital investments is yet to be fully realized. There
are around thirty venture capital funds, which have garnered over Rs. 5000 Crores.
The venture capital investments in India at Rs. 1000.05 crore as in 1997, representing
0.1 percent of GDP, as compared to 5.5 per cent in countries such as Hong Kong.

Investment Philosophy
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Venture capitalists can be generalists, investing in various industry sectors, or various
geographic locations, or various stages of a company’s life. Alternatively, they may
be specialists in one or two industry sectors, or may seek to invest in only a localized
geographic area.

Not all venture capitalists invest in "start-ups." While venture firms will invest in
companies that are in their initial start-up modes, venture capitalists will also invest in
companies at various stages of the business life cycle. A venture capitalist may invest
before there is a real product or company organized (so called "seed investing"), or
may provide capital to start up a company in its first or second stages of development
known as "early stage investing." Also, the venture capitalist may provide needed
financing to help a company grow beyond a critical mass to become more successful
("expansion stage financing").

The venture capitalist may invest in a company throughout the company’s life cycle
and therefore some funds focus on later stage investing by providing financing to help
the company grow to a critical mass to attract public financing through a stock
offering. Alternatively, the venture capitalist may help the company attract a merger
or acquisition with another company by providing liquidity and exit for the
company’s founders.

At the other end of the spectrum, some venture funds specialize in the acquisition,
turnaround or recapitalization of public and private companies that represent
favorable investment opportunities.

There are venture funds that will be broadly diversified and will invest in companies
in various industry sectors as diverse as semiconductors, software, retailing and
restaurants and others that may be specialists in only one technology.

While high technology investment makes up most of the venture investing in the
U.S., and the venture industry gets a lot of attention for its high technology
investments, venture capitalists also invest in companies such as construction,
industrial products, business services, etc. There are several firms that have
specialized in retail company investment and others that have a focus in investing
only in "socially responsible" start-up endeavors.

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The basic principal underlying venture capital – invest in high-risk projects with the
anticipation of high returns. These funds are then invested in several fledging
enterprises, which require funding, but are unable to access it through the
conventional sources such as banks and financial institutions. Typically first
generation entrepreneurs start such enterprises. Such enterprises generally do not
have any major collateral to offer as security, hence banks and financial institutions
are averse to funding them. Venture capital funding may be by way of investment in
the equity of the new enterprise or a combination of debt and equity, though equity is
the most preferred route.

Since most of the ventures financed through this route are in new areas (worldwide
venture capital follows "hot industries" like InfoTech, electronics and biotechnology),
the probability of success is very low. All projects financed do not give a high return.
Some projects fail and some give moderate returns. The investment, however, is a
long-term risk capital as such projects normally take 3 to 7 years to generate
substantial returns. Venture capitalists offer "more than money" to the venture and
seek to add value to the investee unit by active participation in its management. They
monitor and evaluate the project on a continuous basis.

The venture capitalist is however not worried about failure of an investee company,
because the deal which succeeds, nets a very high return on his investments – high
enough to make up for the losses sustained in unsuccessful projects. The returns
generally come in the form of selling the stocks when they get listed on the stock
exchange or by a timely sale of his stake in the company to a strategic buyer. The idea
is to cash in on an increased appreciation of the share value of the company at the
time of disinvestment in the investee company. If the venture fails (more often than
not), the entire amount gets written off. Probably, that is one reason why venture
capitalists assess several projects and invest only in a handful after careful scrutiny of
the management and marketability of the project.

To conclude, a venture financier is one who funds a start up company, in most cases
promoted by a first generation technocrat promoter with equity. A venture capitalist is
not a lender, but an equity partner. He cannot survive on minimalism. He is driven by
maximization: wealth maximization. Venture capitalists are sources of expertise for

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the companies they finance. Exit is preferably through listing on stock exchanges.
This method has been extremely successful in USA, and venture funds have been
credited with the success of technology companies in Silicon Valley. The entire
technology industry thrives on it

Length of investment:
Venture capitalists will help companies grow, but they eventually seek to exit the
investment in three to seven years. An early stage investment make take seven to ten
years to mature, while a later stage investment many only take a few years, so the
appetite for the investment life cycle must be congruent with the limited partnerships’
appetite for liquidity. The venture investment is neither a short term nor a liquid
investment, but an investment that must be made with careful diligence and expertise.

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 Stages of Venture Capital Funding
The Venture Capital funding varies across the different stages of growth of a firm.
The various stages are:

1. Pre seed Stage Here, a relatively small amount of capital is provided to an

entrepreneur to conceive and market a potential idea having good future prospects.
The funded work also involves product development to some extent.

2. Seed Stage Financing is provided to complete product development and

commence initial marketing formalities.

3. Early Stage / First Stage Finance is provided to companies to initiate

commercial manufacturing and sales.

4. Second Stage In the Second Stage of Financing working capital is provided for
the expansion of the company in terms of growing accounts receivable and inventory.

5. Third Stage Funds provided for major expansion of a company having

increasing sales volume. This stage is met when the firm crosses the break even point.

6. Bridge / Mezzanine Financing or Later Stage Financing Bridge /

Mezzanine Financing or Later Stage Financing is financing a company just before its
IPO (Initial Public Offer). Often, bridge finance is structured so that it can be repaid,
from the proceeds of a public offering.

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 Methods of Venture Financing
Venture capital is typically available in three forms in India, they are:

Equity: All VCFs in India provide equity but generally their contribution does not
exceed 49 percent of the total equity capital. Thus, the effective control and majority
ownership of the firm remains with the entrepreneur. They buy shares of an enterprise
with an intention to ultimately sell them off to make capital gains.

Conditional Loan: It is repayable in the form of a royalty after the venture is able
to generate sales. No interest is paid on such loans. In India, VCFs charge royalty
ranging between 2 to 15 percent; actual rate depends on other factors of the venture
such as gestation period, cost-flow patterns, riskiness and other factors of the
enterprise.

Income Note It is a hybrid security which combines the features of both

conventional loan and conditional loan. The entrepreneur has to pay both interest and
royalty on sales, but at substantially low rates.

Other Financing Methods: A few venture capitalists, particularly in the

private sector, have started introducing innovative financial securities like
participating debentures, introduced by TCFC is an example.

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 Venture Capital Fund Operation
Venture capitalists are very selective in deciding what to invest in. A common figure
is that they invest only in about one in four hundred ventures presented to them.

They are only interested in ventures with high growth potential. Only ventures with
high growth potential are capable of providing the return that venture capitalists
expect, and structure their businesses to expect. Because many businesses cannot
create the growth required having an exit event within the required timeframe,
venture capital is not suitable for everyone.

Venture capitalists usually expect to be able to assign personnel to key management

positions and also to obtain one or more seats on the company's board of directors.
This is to put people in place, a phrase that has sometimes quite unfortunate
implications as it was used in many accounting scandals to refer to a strategy of
placing incompetent or easily bypassed individuals in positions of due diligence and
formal legal responsibility, enabling others to rob stockholders blind. Only a tiny
portion of venture capitalists, however, have been found liable in the large scale
frauds that rocked American (mostly) finance in 2000 and 2001.

Venture capitalists expect to be able to sell their stock, warrants, options,

convertibles, or other forms of equity in three to ten years: this is referred to as
harvesting. Venture capitalists know that not all their investments will pay-off. The
failure rate of investments can be high; anywhere from 20% to 90% of the enterprises
funded fail to return the invested capital.

Many venture capitalists try to mitigate this problem through diversification. They
invest in companies in different industries and different countries so that the
systematic risk of their total portfolio is reduced. Others concentrate their investments
in the industry that they are familiar with. In either case, they work on the assumption
that for every ten investments they make, two will be failures, two will be successful,
and six will be marginally successful. They expect that the two successes will pay for
the time given to, and risk exposure of the other eight. In good times, the funds that
do succeed may offer returns of 300 to 1000% to investors.

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Venture capital partners (also known as "venture capitalists" or "VCs") may be
former chief executives at firms similar to those which the partnership funds.
Investors in venture capital funds are typically large institutions with large amounts of
available capital, such as state and private pension funds, university endowments,
insurance companies and pooled investment vehicles.

Most venture capital funds have a fixed life of ten years—this model was pioneered
by some of the most successful funds in Silicon Valley through the 1980s to invest in
technological trends broadly but only during their period of ascendance, to cut
exposure to management and marketing risks of any individual firm or its product.

In such a fund, the investors have a fixed commitment to the fund that is "called
down" by the VCs over time as the fund makes its investments. In a typical venture
capital fund, the VCs receive an annual "management fee" equal to 2% of the
committed capital to the fund and 20% of the net profits of the fund. Because a fund
may run out of capital prior to the end of its life, larger VCs usually have several
overlapping funds at the same time—this lets the larger firm keep specialists in all
stage of the development of firms almost constantly engaged. Smaller firms tend to
thrive or fail with their initial industry contacts—by the time the fund cashes out, an
entirely new generation of technologies and people is ascending, whom they do not
know well, and so it is prudent to re-assess and shift industries or personnel rather
than attempt to simply invest more in the industry or people it already knows

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 Significance of Study
Venture capitalists not only support high technology projects they also fiancé any

risky idea, they provide funds (a) if one needs additional capital to expand his

existing business or one has a new & promising project to exploit (b) if one cannot

obtain a conventional loan the requirement terms would create a burden during the

period the firm is struggling to grown.

It is the ambition of many talented people in India to set up their own venture if they
could get adequate & reliable support. Financial investment provides loans & equity.
But they do not provide management support, which is often needed by
entrepreneurs. But the venture capital industries provide such support along with
capital also. Venture capitalist acts a partner not a financier.

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 Objective of the Study
When we are going to study something there is specific purpose for our study. It may

be for our course, as hobby, for passing our time, to find out genuine solution for any

problem or to draw out certain inferences out of the available data. The objectives of

my study are:

 To find out the venture capital investment volume in India.

 To study the problem faced by venture capitalist in India.

 To study the future prospects of venture capital financing

Objective No. 1
To Find out the venture capital investment
volume in India
Methods of Financing

Instruments Rs million Per cent

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Equity Shares 6,318.12 63.18
Redeemable Preference Shares 2,154.46 21.54
Non Convertible Debt 873.01 8.73
Convertible Instruments 580.02 5.8
Other Instruments 75.85 0.75
Total 10,000.46 100

Rs million

7,000.00 6,318.12
6,000.00
5,000.00
4,000.00
3,000.00 2,154.46
2,000.00
873.01 580.02
1,000.00 75.85
0.00
Convertible
Redeemable

Convertible
Shares

Instruments

Instruments
Equity

Preference
Shares

Other
Debt
Non

Interpretation This diagram shows the venture capital financing in equity share
and secondly they invest in redeemable preference shares to get higher returns.

Contributors of Funds

Contributors Rs. mn Per cent

Foreign Institutional Investors 13,426.47 52.46%
All India Financial Institutions 6,252.90 24.43%
Multilateral Development Agencies 2,133.64 8.34%
Other Banks 1,541.00 6.02%
Foreign Investors 570 2.23%
Private Sector 412.53 1.61%

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Public Sector 324.44 1.27%
Nationalized Banks 278.67 1.09%
Non Resident Indians 235.5 0.92%
State Financial Institutions 215 0.84%
Other Public 115.52 0.45%
Insurance Companies 85 0.33%
Mutual Funds 4.5 0.02%
Total 25,595.17 100.00%

Interpretation This table shows the highest contribution of fund FII and secondly
AIFI to develop the Industry.

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Financing By Investment Stage

Investment Stages Rs million Number

Start-up 3,813.00 297
Later stage 3,338.99 154
Other early stage 1,825.77 124
Seed stage 963.2 107
Turnaround financing 59.5 9
Total 10,000.46 691

Rs million

4,500.00
3,813.00
4,000.00
3,338.99
3,500.00
3,000.00
2,500.00
1,825.77
2,000.00
1,500.00 963.2
1,000.00
500.00 59.5
0.00
Start-up Later stage Other early Seed stage Turnaround
stage financing

Interpretation This diagram shows the highest finance is received by the venture
in startup stage of any venture.

Project Report – Institute of Technology and Management, Gurgaon

Financing By Industry

Industry Rs million
Industrial products, machinery 2,599.32
Computer Software 1,832
Consumer Related 1,412.74
Medical 623.8
Food, food processing 500.06
Other electronics 436.54
Tel & Data Communications 385.09
Biotechnology 376.46
Energy related 249.56
Computer Hardware 203.36
Miscellaneous 1,380.85
Total 10,000.46

Rs million

3,000.00 2,599.32
2,500.00
1,832
2,000.00
1,412.74 1,380.85
1,500.00
1,000.00 623.8 500.06
436.54 385.09 376.46
500.00 249.56 203.36

0.00
Medical

Energy related
Computer

Hardw are
Consumer

Communications

Biotechnology
products,

processing

electronics

Miscellaneous
Industrial

Computer
Softw are

Food, food
Related

Tel & Data

Other

Project Report – Institute of Technology and Management, Gurgaon

Interpretation In this diagram highest finance received by industrial products and
machinery and secondly finance received by computer software.

Project Report – Institute of Technology and Management, Gurgaon

Financing By States

Investment Rs million
Maharashtra 2,566
Tamil Nadu 1531
Andhra Pradesh 1372
Gujarat 1102
Karnataka 1046
West Bengal 312
Haryana 300
Delhi 294
Uttar Pradesh 283
Madhya Pradesh 231
Kerala 135
Goa 105
Rajasthan 87
Punjab 84
Orissa 35
Dadra & Nagar Haveli 32
Himachal Pradesh 28
Pondicherry 22
Bihar 16
Overseas 413
Total 9994

Source IVCA (2005-06)

Project Report – Institute of Technology and Management, Gurgaon

 Rs million

3,000 2,566
2,500
2,000
1531
1372
1,500 1102 1046
1,000
500 312 300 294

Interpretation In this diagram highest finance given by the Maharashtra to the

ventures to promote the state economy growth.

Project Report – Institute of Technology and Management, Gurgaon

 Assessing Venture Capital
Venture funds, both domestic and offshore, have been around in India for some years
now. However it is only in the past 12 to 18 months, they have come into the
limelight. The rejection ratio is very high, about 10 in 100 get beyond pre evaluation
stage, and 1 gets funded.

Venture capital funds are broadly of two kinds - generalists or specialists. It is critical
for the company to access the right type of fund, ie who can add value. This backing
is invaluable as focused/specialized funds open doors, assist in future rounds and help
in strategy. Hence, it is important to choose the right venture capitalist.

The standard parameters used by venture capitalists are very similar to any
investment decision. The only difference being exit. If one buys a listed security, one
can exit at a price but with an unlisted security, exit becomes difficult. The key
factors which they look for in

The Management
Most businesses are people driven, with success or failure depending on the
performance of the team. It is important to distinguish the entrepreneur from the
professional management team. The value of the idea, the vision, putting the team
together, getting the funding in place is amongst others, some key aspects of the role
of the entrepreneur. Venture capitalists will insist on a professional team coming in,
including a CEO to execute the idea. One-man armies are passe. Integrity and
commitment are attributes sought for. The venture capitalist can provide the strategic
vision, but the team executes it. As a famous Silicon Valley saying goes "Success is
execution, strategy is a dream".

The Idea
The idea and its potential for commercialization are critical. Venture funds look for a
scalable model, at a country or a regional level. Otherwise the entire game would be
reduced to a manpower or machine multiplication exercise. For example, it is very
easy for Hindustan Lever to double sales of Liril - a soap without incremental capex,

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while Gujarat Ambuja needs to spend at least Rs4bn before it can increase sales by
1mn ton. Distinctive competitive advantages must exist in the form of scale,
technology, brands, distribution, etc which will make it difficult for competition to
enter.

Valuation
All investment decisions are sensitive to this. An old stock market saying "Every
stock is a buy at a price and vice versa". Most deals fail because of valuation
expectation mismatch. In India, while calculating returns, venture capital funds will
take into account issues like rupee depreciation, political instability, which adds to the
risk premia, thus suppressing valuations. Linked to valuation is the stake, which the
fund takes. In India, entrepreneurs are still uncomfortable with the venture capital
"taking control" in a seed stage project.

Exit
Without exit, gains cannot be booked. Exit may be in the form of a strategic sale
or/and IPO. Taxation issues come up at the time. Any fund would discuss all exit
options before closing a deal. Sometimes, the fund insists on a buy back clause to
ensure an exit.

Portfolio Balancing
Most venture funds try and achieve portfolio balancing as they invest in different
stages of the company life cycle. For example, a venture capital has invested in a
portfolio of companies predominantly at seed stage; they will focus on expansion
stage projects for future investments to balance the investment portfolio. This would
enable them to have a phased exit. In summary, venture capital funds go through a
certain due diligence to finalize the deal. This includes evaluation of the management
team, strategy, execution and commercialization plans. This is supplemented by legal
and accounting due diligence, typically carried out by an external agency. In India,
the entire process takes about 6 months. Entrepreneurs are advised to keep that in
mind before looking to raise funds. The actual cash inflow might get delayed because
of regulatory issues. It is interesting to note that in USA, at times angels write checks
across the table.

Project Report – Institute of Technology and Management, Gurgaon

 Financing Options in General
The possibility of raising a substantial part of project finances in India through both
equity and debt instruments are among the key advantages of investing in India.

The Indian banking system has shown remarkable growth over the last two decades.
The rapid growth and increasing complexity of the financial markets, especially the
capital market have brought about measures for further development and
improvement in the working of these markets. Banks and development financial
institutions led by ICICI, IDBI and IFCI were providers of term loans for funding
projects. The options were limited to conventional businesses, i.e. manufacturing
centric. Services sector was ignored because of the "collateral" issue.

Equity was raised from the capital markets using the IPO route. The bull markets of
the 90s, fuelled by Harshad Mehta and the FIIs, ensured that (ad) venture capital was
easily available. Manufacturing companies exploited this to the full.

The services sector was ignored, like software, media, etc. Lack of understanding of
these sectors was also responsible for the same. If we look back to 1991 or even 1992,
the situation as regards financial outlay available to Indian software companies was
poor. Most software companies found it extremely difficult to source seed capital,
working capital or even venture capital.

Most software companies started off undercapitalized, and had to rely on

loans or overdraft facilities to provide working capital. This approach forced them to
generate revenue in the short term, rather than investing in product development. The
situation fortunately has changed.

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 Research Methodology
REDMEN & MORY defines ”Research as a systematized effort to gain now
knowledge.”
It is a careful investigation for search of new facts in any branch of knowledge. The
purpose of research methodology section is to describe the procedure for conduction
the study. It includes research design, sample size, data collection and procedure of
analysis of research instrument.
Research always starts with a question or a problem. Its purpose is to find answers to
questions through the application of the scientific method. It is a systematic and
intensive study directed towards a more complete knowledge of the subject studied.

RESEARCH DESIGN:
Acc. to Kerlinger, “Research design is the plan structure & strategy of
investigation conceived so as to obtain answers to research questions and to control
variance.
Acc. to Green and Tull, “A research design is the specification of methods
and procedures for acquiring the information needed. It is the overall operational
pattern or framework of the project that stipulates what information is to be collected
from which sources by what procedures.
Its found that research design is purely and simply the framework for a study that
guides the collection and analysis of required data.
Research design is broadly classified into
 Exploratory research design
 Descriptive research design
 Casual research design
This research is a Exploratory research. The major purpose of this research is
description of state of affairs as it exists at present.

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DATA COLLECTION
Secondary data

Secondary data is the data which is already collected by someone and complied for

different purposes which are used in research for this study. It includes:-

 Internet
 Magazine
 Journal
 Newspaper

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 Literature Review
According to Subash and Nair, (May 2005)
According to theses persons though the modern concept of venture capital stated
during 1946 and now practiced by almost all economies around the world, there
seems to be a slowdown of venture capital activities after 2000.There may be a long
list of reasons for this situation, where people feel more risky to put their money in
new and emerging ventures. Hardly 5% of the total venture capital investment
globally is given to really stage ventures. In all the years people around the world has
seen the potentiality of venture capital in promoting different economies of the world
by improving the standard of living of the people by expanding business activities,
increasing employment and also generating more revenue to the government

According To Kumar, (June 2003)

This study focus on the industry should concentrate more on early stage business
opportunities instead of later stage. It is the experience world over and especially in
the United States of America that the early stage opportunities have generated
exceptional returns for the industry. He also suggests that individual capitalists should
follow a focused investment strategy. The specialization should be in a board
technology segment.

According to Kumar and Kaura, (March 2006)

The present study reports four factors which are used by the venture capitalist to
screen new venture proposals. Using Kendall’s tau-c analysis, the study brings out
strong association between several variable pair. Broadly, the analysis finds that:
 Successful venture teams put in sustained efforts o identified target markets.
 They are highly meticulous while attending to the details.
 These teams are adept at dealing with risk because of their impeccable past
experience.
 Indian venture capitalists do not seem to be much enamored of technology
venturing; at least some of the successful funded by them do not seem to
show signs of being hi- tech.

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 The study brings out four important variables which are highly unique to
successful venture in India. They are:
 Ability to evaluate and react to risk
 Attention to details
 Market share
 Profits.
Evaluating risk seems to be an area where unsuccessful venture fail. Since
successful teams focus on established markets and meticulously pursue these
markets to gain market share, they achieve desired profits.

According to Kumar, (May 2004)

The Indian Venture Capital Industry has followed the classical model of venture
capital finance. The early stage financing which includes seeds, startup & early stage
investment was always the major part of the total investment. Whenever venture
capitalists invest in venture certain basic preference play a crucial role in investment
decision. Two such considerations are location preferences and ownership
preferences. Seed stage finance is provided to new companies for the use in product
development & initial marketing company may be in the process of setting up the
business or may be in the business for short period but have not reach the stage of
commercialization.

According to Kumar, (March, 2004)

The industry should concentrate more an early stage business opportunities instead of
later stage. It is the experience world over and especially in the United states of
America that the early stage opportunities have generated exceptional for the
industry. It is recommended that the venture capitalists should retain their basic
feature that taking retain their basic feature that is taking high risk. The present
situation may compel venture capitalists to opt for less risky opportunities but it is
against the sprit of venture capitalism. The established fact is big gains are possible in
high risk projects.

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According to Chary, (September 2005)

There has been a plethora of literature on venture capital finance, which is helping the
practitioners’ viz., venture capital finance companies and fund manage for better
understanding the role of venture capital in economic development. There are number
of studies on the venture capital and activities of venture capitalists in developed
countries.

According to Vijayalakshman & Dalvi, (Jan., 2006)

Whenever Indian policy makers have to encourage any industry. The usual practice is
to grant that the industry tax breaks for a limited period. This definitely acts as a
positive incentive for that industry. However, what is required is a through
understanding of the industry requirement framing and implementation of aggregative
strategy for its development. VC funds are not even registered with SEBI in spite of
all the benefit available. VC industry is one, which will today prepare a base for a
strong tomorrow. What is need for the development of VC industry is not only tax
breaks but simpler procedures legislation for simplified exit form investment, more
transparency and legal backing to participate in business amongst other things.

According to Kumar, (July, 2005)

One of the integral aspects of venture funding is venture capitalist's involvement with
the entrepreneurial team. The relationship through broad interaction was explored by
Rosenstein (1988). A comparison was drawn between small and large firms with
regard to board interaction. While it is important in large firms the relative power of
small conventional firms, board interaction generally is undermined. Rosenstein et. a.
(1993) studied the finer aspects of boards in the venture funded companies in the
USA. From 98 candidates in the sample, the study attempted to bring out the changes
in the board size, board composition and control and their relation to value added to
the funded unit. The empirical analysis yielded results wherein the size of the board
increased after venture funding, indicating more transparency in board operations.
Through a case based approach Lloyd et. al. (1995) explored the aspect of
deal structuring and post investment staging of venture capitalists through venture

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capitalists' co-investing strategy. The study finds that even through venture capitalists
fix tight milestones and time lines they themselves contribute to many of the delays
that are experienced by a typical start up firm. This is because of the hierarchical co-
investing partners and the lack of understanding within the venture capitalist co-
investors as to what role they individually play in the development of their portfolio
company.

According to Robbie, (1997)

Robbies, et. al. (1997) highlights the monitoring policies of funded units by venture
capitalists and studies the performance targets, monitoring information, and
monitoring actions through a questionnaire-based survey. The survey was
administered to 108 British Venture Capital Association members and total of 77
responses were gathered in the study. The findings related to performance targets and
other monitoring issues were considerable addition to the literature in the subject.
The issues concerning board of directors' role in venture backed companies
are widely debated topics in academic research. The findings of the study by Fried et.
al. (1998) emphasize that the board of directors are a more involved in the venture-
backed firms than boards where members do not have large ownership at stake. The
study provides an empirical evidence of variation in the boards' involvement and
shows its relevance in performance management of funded units.

According to Mishra, (July 2004)

There is abundant empirical research conducted in developed countries which address

the relative investment evaluation criteria taken into account in the screening process
for new venture investment proposals. Zopunidis (1994) provides a useful summary
of the previous research in this field. The identification of selection criteria has been
researched using different methodologies such as simple rating of criteria (perpetual
and deal specific responses) Knight, 1986; Dixon, 1991; Hall and Hofer, 1993; Rah,
Jung and Lee, 1994), construct analysis (Fried and Hisrich, 1994), verbal protocols
(Zhacharakis and Meyer, 1998), and quantitative compensatory models (Muzyka,
Birley and Leleux, 1996; Shepherd, 1999). Multi methods (case analysis, study of
administrative records, published interviews, questionnaire and personal interviews)

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approach has also been used (Riquelme, 1994) to enhance understanding of
investment criteria and also extend it to other aspects of investment process like deal
structuring and divestment.

Project Report – Institute of Technology and Management, Gurgaon

 Conceptual Frame Work –
The Venture Capital Process
The Venture Capital Investment Process:
The venture capital activity is a sequential process involving the following six steps.

1. Deal origination
2. Screening
3. Due diligence Evaluation
4. Deal structuring
5. Post-investment activity
6. Exit

Project Report – Institute of Technology and Management, Gurgaon

 Venture Capital Investment Process

Project Report – Institute of Technology and Management, Gurgaon

Deal origination:
In generating a deal flow, the VC investor creates a pipeline of deals or investment
opportunities that he would consider for investing in. Deal may originate in various
ways. referral system, active search system, and intermediaries. Referral system is an
important source of deals. Deals may be referred to VCFs by their parent
organizations, trade partners, industry associations, friends etc. Another deal flow is
active search through networks, trade fairs, conferences, seminars, foreign visits etc.
Intermediaries is used by venture capitalists in developed countries like USA, is
certain intermediaries who match VCFs and the potential entrepreneurs.

Screening:
VCFs, before going for an in-depth analysis, carry out initial screening of all projects
on the basis of some broad criteria. For example, the screening process may limit
projects to areas in which the venture capitalist is familiar in terms of technology, or
product, or market scope. The size of investment, geographical location and stage of
financing could also be used as the broad screening criteria.

Due Diligence:
Due diligence is the industry jargon for all the activities that are associated with
evaluating an investment proposal. The venture capitalists evaluate the quality of
entrepreneur before appraising the characteristics of the product, market or
technology. Most venture capitalists ask for a business plan to make an assessment of
the possible risk and return on the venture. Business plan contains detailed
information about the proposed venture. The evaluation of ventures by VCFs in India
includes;

Preliminary evaluation: The applicant required to provide a brief profile of the

proposed venture to establish prima facie eligibility.

Detailed evaluation: Once the preliminary evaluation is over, the proposal is

evaluated in greater detail. VCFs in India expect the entrepreneur to have:- Integrity,
long-term vision, urge to grow, managerial skills, commercial orientation.

VCFs in India also make the risk analysis of the proposed projects which includes:
Product risk, Market risk, Technological risk and Entrepreneurial risk. The final
decision is taken in terms of the expected risk-return trade-off as shown in Figure.

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Deal Structuring: Structuring refers to putting together the financial aspects of the
deal and negotiating with the entrepreneurs to accept a venture capital’s proposal and
finally closing the deal. To do a good job in structuring, one needs to be
knowledgeable in areas of accounting, cash flow, finance, legal and taxation. Also the
structure should take into consideration the various commercial issues (ie what the
entrepreneur wants and what the venture capital would require protecting the
investment). Documentation refers to the legal aspects of the paperwork in putting the
deal together. The instruments to be used in structuring deals are many and varied.
The objective in selecting the instrument would be to maximize (or optimize) venture
capital’s returns/protection and yet satisfies the entrepreneur’s requirements. The
instruments could be as follows:

Instrument Issues
Loan Clean vs secured
Interest bearing vs non interest bearing
convertible vs one with features (warrants)
1st Charge, 2nd Charge,
loan vs loan stock
Maturity
Preference shares redeemable (conditions under Company Act)
participating
par value
nominal shares
Warrants exercise price, expiry period
Common shares new or vendor shares
par value
partially-paid shares

In India, straight equity and convertibles are popular and commonly used. Nowadays,
warrants are issued as a tool to bring down pricing.

A variation that was first used by PACT and TDICI was "royalty on sales". Under
this, the company was given a conditional loan. If the project was successful, the
company had to pay a % age of sales as royalty and if it failed then the amount was
written off. In structuring a deal, it is important to listen to what the entrepreneur
wants, but the venture capital comes up with his own solution. Even for the proposed
investment amount, the venture capital decides whether or not the amount requested,
is appropriate and consistent with the risk level of the investment. The risks should be

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analyzed, taking into consideration the stage at which the company is in and other
factors relating to the project. (eg exit problems, etc).

Post Investment Activities:

Once the deal has been structured and agreement finalized, the venture capitalist
generally assumes the role of a partner and collaborator. He also gets involved in
shaping of the direction of the venture. The degree of the venture capitalist's
involvement depends on his policy. It may not, however, be desirable for a venture
capitalist to get involved in the day-to-day operation of the venture. If a financial or
managerial crisis occurs, the venture capitalist may intervene, and even install a new
management team.

Exit:

Venture capitalists generally want to cash-out their gains in five to ten years after the
initial investment. They play a positive role in directing the company towards
particular exit routes. A venture may exit in one of the following ways:
1. Initial Public Offerings (IPO’s)
2. Acquisition by another company
3. Purchase of the venture capitalist's shares by the promoter,
4. Purchase of the venture capitalist's share by an outsider

Project Report – Institute of Technology and Management, Gurgaon

Objective No.2
To study the problems faced by venture
capitalist in India.
Problems of Venture Capital in Indian Context
One can ask why venture funding is so successful in USA and faced a number of
problems in India. The biggest problem was a mindset change from "collateral
funding" to high risk high return funding. Most of the pioneers in the industry were
people with credit background and exposure to manufacturing industries. Exposure to

Project Report – Institute of Technology and Management, Gurgaon

fast growing intellectual property business and services sector was almost zero.
Moreover VCF is in its nascent stages in India. The emerging scenario of global
competitiveness has put an immense pressure on the industrial sector to improve the
quality level with minimization of cost of products by making use of latest
technological skills. The implication is to obtain adequate financing along with the
necessary hi-tech equipments to produce an innovative product which can succeed
and grow in the present market condition. Unfortunately, our country lacks on both
fronts. The necessary capital can be obtained from the venture capital firms who
expect an above average rate of return on the investment. The financing firms expect
a sound, experienced, mature and capable management team of the company being
financed. Since the innovative project involves a higher risk, there is an expectation
of higher returns from the project. The payback period is also generally high (5 - 7
years). The other issues that led to such a situation include:

License Raj and The IPO Boom

Till early 90s, under the license raj regime, only commodity centric businesses
thrived in a deficit situation. To fund a cement plant, venture capital is not needed.
What was needed was ability to get a license and then get the project funded by the
banks and DFIs. In most cases, the promoters were well-established industrial houses,
with no apparent need for funds. Most of these entities were capable of raising funds
from conventional sources, including term loans from institutions and equity markets.

Scalability

The Indian software segment has recorded an impressive growth over the last few
years and earns large revenues from its export earnings, yet our share in the global
market is less than 1 per cent. Within the software industry, the value chain ranges
from body shopping at the bottom to strategic consulting at the top. Higher value
addition and profitability as well as significant market presence take place at the
higher end of the value chain. If the industry has to grow further and survive the flux
it would only be through innovation. For any venture idea to succeed there should be
a product that has a growing market with a scalable business model. The IT industry
(which is most suited for venture funding because of its "ideas" nature) in India till

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recently had a service centric business model. Products developed for Indian markets
lack scale.

Mindsets
Venture capital as an activity was virtually non-existent in India. Most venture capital
companies want to provide capital on a secured debt basis, to established businesses
with profitable operating histories. Most of the venture capital units were offshoots of
financial institutions and banks and the lending mindset continued. True venture
capital is capital that is used to help launch products and ideas of tomorrow. Abroad,
this problem is solved by the presence of `angel investors’. They are typically wealthy
individuals who not only provide venture finance but also help entrepreneurs to shape
their business and make their venture successful.

Returns, Taxes and Regulations

There is a multiplicity of regulators like SEBI and RBI. Domestic venture funds are
set up under the Indian Trusts Act of 1882 as per SEBI guidelines, while offshore
funds routed through Mauritius follow RBI guidelines. Abroad, such funds are made
under the Limited Partnership Act, which brings advantages in terms of taxation. The
government must allow pension funds and insurance companies to invest in venture
capitals as in USA where corporate contributions to venture funds are large.

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Exit

The exit routes available to the venture capitalists were restricted to the IPO route.
Before deregulation, pricing was dependent on the erstwhile CCI regulations. In
general, all issues were under priced. Even now SEBI guidelines make it difficult for
pricing issues for an easy exit. Given the failure of the OTCEI and the revised
guidelines, small companies could not hope for a BSE/ NSE listing. Given the dull
market for mergers and acquisitions, strategic sale was also not available.

Valuation

The recent phenomenon is valuation mismatches. Thanks to the software boom, most
promoters have sky high valuation expectations. Given this, it is difficult for deals to
reach financial closure as promoters do not agree to a valuation. This coupled with
the fancy for software stocks in the bourses means that most companies are preponing
their IPO’s. Consequently, the number and quality of deals available to the venture
funds gets reduced

Some other major problems facing by venture capitalist in India are:

a. Requirement of an experienced management team.

b. Requirement of an above average rate of return on investment.
Longer payback period.
c. Uncertainty regarding the success of the product in the market.
d. Questions regarding the infrastructure details of production like plant location,
accessibility, relationship with the suppliers and creditors, transportation
facilities, labour availability etc.
e. The category of potential customers and hence the packaging and pricing
details of the product.
f. The size of the market.
g. Major competitors and their market share.
h. Skills and Training required and the cost of training.
i. Financial considerations like return on capital employed (ROCE), cost of the
project, the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of the project, total amount of funds

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 required, ratio of owners investment (personnel funds of the entrepreneur),
borrowed capital, mortgage loans etc. in the capital employed.

[Source Pandey, I. M., Venture Capital – The Indian Express VIth Edition (2006)]

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Objective No. 3
To study the future prospect of Venture
Capital Financing.
Prospects of Venture Capital Financing
With the advent of liberalization, India has been showing remarkable growth in the
economy in the past 10 - 12 years. The government is promoting growth in capacity
utilization of available and acquired resources and hence entrepreneurship
development, by liberalizing norms regarding venture capital. While only eight
domestic venture capital funds were registered with SEBI during 1996-1998, 14 funds
have already been registered in 1999-2000. Institutional interest is growing and
foreign venture investments are also on the rise. Many state governments have also
set up venture capital funds for the IT sector in partnership with the local state
financial institutions and SIDBI. These include Andhra Paradesh, Karnataka, Delhi,
Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The other states are to follow soon.
In the year 2000, the finance ministry announced the liberalization of tax treatment
for venture capital funds to promote them & to increase job creation. This is expected
to give a strong boost to the non resident Indians located in the Silicon Valley and
elsewhere to invest some of their capital, knowledge and enterprise in these ventures.
A Bangalore based media company, Gray cell Ltd., has recently obtained VC
investment totaling about $ 1.7 mn. The company would be creating and marketing
branded web based consumer products in the near future.

The following points can be considered as the harbingers of VC financing in India -

a. Existence of a globally competitive high technology.

b. Globally competitive human resource capital.
c. Second Largest English speaking, scientific & technical manpower in the
world.
d. Vast pool of existing and ongoing scientific and technical research carried by

large number of research laboratories.

e. Initiatives taken by the Government in formulating policies to encourage
investors and entrepreneurs.

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 f. Initiatives of the SEBI to develop a strong and vibrant capital market giving
the adequate liquidity and flexibility for investors for entry and exit.

In a recent survey it has been shown that the VC investments in India's I.T. - Software
and services sector (including dot com companies)- have grown from US $ 150 million
in 1998 to over US$ 1200 million in 2008. The credit can be given to setting up of a
National Venture Capital Fund for the Software and I.T. Industry (NFSIT) in association
with various financial institutions of Small Industries and Development Bank of India
(SIDBI). The facts reveal that VC disbursements as on September 30, 2002 made by
NFSIT totaled Rs 254.36 mn.

Source www.evaluesevrve.com

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 Findings
During the preparation of my report I have analyzed many things which are
following:-

 A number of people in India feel that financial institution are not only
conservatives but they also have a bias for foreign technology & they do not trust
on the abilities of entrepreneurs.

Project Report – Institute of Technology and Management, Gurgaon

 Some venture fails due to few exit options. Team ignorant of international
standards The team usually a two or three man team. It does not possess the
required depth In top management. The team is often found to have technical
skills but does not possess the overall organization building skills team is often
short sited.
 Venture capitalists in India consider the entrepreneur’s integrity &urge to grow as
the most critical aspect or venture evaluation.

Project Report – Institute of Technology and Management, Gurgaon

 Limitations of Study
1. The biggest limitation was time because the time was not sufficient as there
was lot of information to be got & to have it interpretation
2. The data required was secondary & that was not easily available.
3. Study by its nature is suggestive & not conclusive
4. Expenses were high in collecting & searching the data.

Project Report – Institute of Technology and Management, Gurgaon

 Suggestions
1. The investment should be in turnaround stage. Since there are many
sick industries in India and the number is growing each year, the
venture capitalists that have specialized knowledge in management can
help sick industries. It would also be highly profitable if the venture
capitalist replace management either good ones in the sick industries.
2. It is recommended that the venture capitalists should retain their basic
feature that is tasking high risk. The present situation may compel
venture capitalists to opt for less risky opportunities but is against the
spirit of venture capitalism. The established fact is big gains are
possible in high risk projects.
3. There should be a greater role for the venture capitalists in the
promotion of entrepreneurship. The Venture capitalists should promote
entrepreneur forums, clubs and institutions of learning to enhance the
quality of entrepreneurship

Project Report – Institute of Technology and Management, Gurgaon

 Bibliography
1. JOURNALS
 APPLIED FINANCE VENTURE STAGE INVESTMENT
PREFERENCE IN INDIA, VINAY KUMAR, MAY, 2004.
 ICFAI JOURNAL OF APPLIED FINANCE MAY- JUNE
 VIKALPA VOLULMLE 28, APRI L- JUNE 2003
 ICFAI JOURNAL OF APPLIED FINANCE, JULY- AUG.
2. BOOKS

 I.M. Panday- venture capital development process in India

 I. M. Panday- venture capital the Indian experience,

3. VARIOUS NEWS PAPERS

4. INTERNET

 www.indiainfoline.com
 www.vcapital.com
 www.investopedia.com
 www.vcinstitute.com

Project Report – Institute of Technology and Management, Gurgaon

 ANNEXURE I

Venture capital firms

Examples of venture capital firms include:

 Accede Partners

 Austin Ventures

 Atlas Venture

 Battery Ventures

 Benchmark Capital

 Charles River Ventures

 Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures

 Fidelity Ventures

 Health Cap

 Hummer Wimbled

 Insight Venture Partners

 Mobius Venture Capital

 Mohr Davidow Ventures

 Sevin Rosen Funds

 Sequoia Capital

 Trelys

Project Report – Institute of Technology and Management, Gurgaon

 ANNEXURE II
Some important Venture Capital Funds in India
1. APIDC Venture Capital Limited , Babukhan Estate, Hyderabad 500 001
2. Canbank Venture Capital Fund Limited, IInd Floor, Kareem Towers, Bangalore.
3. Gujarat Venture Capital Fund 1997, Ashram Road, Ahmedabad 380 009
4. Industrial Venture Capital Limited, Thyagaraya Road, Chennai 600 017
5. Gujarat Venture Capital Fund 1995 Ashram Road Ahmedabad 380 009
6. Karnataka Information Technology Venture Capital Fund Cunningham Rd Bangalore
7. India Auto Ancillary Fund Nariman Point, Mumbai 400 021
8. Information Technology Fund, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400021
9. Tamilnadu InfoTech Fund Nariman Point, Mumbai 400021
10. Orissa Venture Capital Fund Nariman Point Mumbai 400021
11. Uttar Pradesh Venture Capital Fund Nariman Point, Mumbai 400021
12. SICOM Venture Capital Fund Nariman Point Mumbai 400 021

Project Report – Institute of Technology and Management, Gurgaon

Project Report – Institute of Technology and Management, Gurgaon
 Conclusion
Venture capital can play a more innovation and development role in a developing
country like India. It could help the rehabilitation of sick unit through people with
ideas and turnaround management skill. A large number of small enterprises in India
because sick unit even before the commencement of production of production.
Venture capitalist could also be in line with the developments taking place in their
parent companies.
Yet another area where can play a significant role in developing countries is the
service sector including tourism, publishing, healthcare etc. they could also provide
financial assistance to people coming out of the universities, technical institutes etc.
who wish to start their own venture with or without high-tech content, but involving
high risk. This would encourage the entrepreneurial spirit. It is not only initial
funding which is need from the venture capitalists, but the should also simultaneously
provide management and marketing expertise-a real critical aspect of venture
capitalists, but they also simultaneously provide management and marketing
expertise-a real critical aspect of venture capital in developing countries. Which can
improve their effectiveness by setting up venture capital cell in R&D and other
scientific generation, providing syndicated or consortium financing and acing as
business incubators.

Project Report – Institute of Technology and Management, Gurgaon