Achievers
Books
Business
Calendar
Community
Controversy
Cuisine
Eateries
Education
Enterprise
Faith
Good Samaritans
Health
Infotech
Media
Memories
Movies
News Archives
Opinion
Specials
The Arts

Indian tech entrepreneurs to meet

Nitish S Rele

The first Indian Tech Entrepreneur & Venture Capital Forum will be held on July 29 in Washington, DC. It will attract about 1,000 Indian entrepreneurs in the Internet area who are looking for venture funding from nearly 11 institutional venture capital/incubation firms.

The free, one-day event is being sponsored by the Washington DC Technology Council and hosted by the international law firm of Skadden, Arps, Meagher, Slate & Flom LLP. It is being co-ordinated by Washington Technology Partners Inc, an India-focused technology incubator.

"Altogether, about $ 6 billion in venture capital will be represented," said Abhishek Jain, CEO of Washington Technology Partners. "The forum is not seeking to attract big names. The point is to address the needs of Indian entrepreneurs who are in a growth phase. Hopefully, some of these guys will be the future (Gururaj) 'Desh' Deshpandes."

"Most such forums are organised by Silicon India or TiE," said Jain. "But all that the people who will be attending our forum do is to invest money. Each forum has its own place, but our advantage is that we are bringing an enormous amount of venture capital."

How did the forum come about? "Well, it wasn't difficult because my company looks to invest in India-related start-up firms," said Jain. "I thought this would be a good way to plan an event where Indian entrepreneurs could come together and access capital. Also, it gives me an opportunity to find new investment targets for my own portfolio."

The success of the Indian entrepreneur in the US has attracted attention from venture capitalists in huge numbers.

"It's a preferred market," said Jain. "All the companies who will be at the forum are US firms who have good promoters and could be good targets for those looking for investors."

Washington, DC, was the obvious choice for the forum because Jain's firm is based there.

"Venture capitalists tend to focus on the places here such as north Virginia or Washington, DC, and metropolitan or suburban Maryland," he said. "It is certainly one of the hottest technology areas in the US and Washington, DC, is one of the fastest growing hi-tech places too. It's also the nation's capital and a good, vibrant place where high-tech professionals like to work and play."

Besides Washington Technology Partners, other participating venture capitalists include Draper Atlantic, Columbia Capital, Venturehousegroup, NextGen Capital, Potomac Ventures, Steve Walker & Associates, the Indian CEO High Tech Council Fund, eCentury Capital, New Enterprise Associates and International Equity Partners.

For more information, e-mail wtpincubator@hotmail.com, check out http://www.dctech.vkit.com/ or call (202) 969-0902.

Previous: Bharat, in wide-angle

Next: 'E-commerce, e-servicing set to boom in India'

Tell us what you think of this report