Lightspeed announces 2 fundings in B'lore cos

Bangalore, Dec 18: Lightspeed Venture Partners, a leading US-based provider of early stage venture capital to technology companies, today announced two major investments in internet companies with primary business operations based in the city.

Lightspeed Venture Partners invested US Dollars 22.5 million in Mercantila, a collection of hundreds of specialty stores with a captive Bangalore operation numbering over 100 people currently and growing at a significant pace. The company's Bangalore facility had complete ownership over core business processes, including market research and product development.

It also announced a US Dollar seven million investment in TutorVista, an online destination for affordable education anytime, anywhere and in any subject, a Lightspeed Venture Partners release here said today.

Since inception, Lightspeed Venture Partners' mission had been to partner with early stage technology companies possessing the vision, energy and integrity required to build large sustainable enterprises. It managed US Dollar 1.3 billion and had invested in over 100 technology companies over the past two decades.

Lightspeed Venture Partners General Partner Ravi Mhatre said ''the venture capital financing segment is at an all-time high with the buoyancy experienced by global markets, especially India and China. Internet technology companies across a spectrum of sectors, including retail and education, are in the key focus set of global VCs. We believe India will be at the forefront of the venture capital financing wave, with projects managing to attract multi-million dollar investments in the near future. We are further scouting for Indian entrepreneurial ventures which could be candidates for early and growth stage equity investments.''

UNI