Norwest’s India Strategy

Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) is scouting for buyouts in the Indian IT space, looking to invest $300 million in India over the next three years. NVP is targeting companies in the range of $25-30 million operating in the services and product development space.

NVP currently has invested $50 million in four IT companies in India and is planning to invest in another 10-15 companies over the next 2-3 years. Though NVP does not have a dedicated India fund, they expect total investments in India will touch $300 million over the next 2-3 years.

The fund recently made a $20 million investment in KPO outfit Adventity. It has invested $13.8 million in Persistent Systems and another $10 million in social networking site Sulekha.com. Last year, NVP, Reliance Capital and Television 18 Group formed travel portal Yatra Online. In India, the fund will invest in semiconductors, consumer internet and media companies.

Needless to say, NVP is one of the 120 funds chasing India, especially consumer internet and media deals in India. Valuations will continue to get bloated up, making actual return on investment challenging.