Wednesday, October 16, 2013: It is the time for Indian semiconductor startups to rejoice. Global venture fund Walden International is all out to help them out with a new a specialised fund. The fund would be worth $100 million (Rs 610 crore). The company has plans to start investing in semiconductor startups later this year. Four semiconductor startups have already been identified, which are based in Bangalore and Hyderabad.
According to an ET report, Lip Bu Tan, chairman and cofounder of Walden International, said, “We are looking for companies which have innovative solutions to offer in the lowpower consumption space. There are strong laws to protect such IP in India.” It is worth mentioning here that the company manages total assets of $2 billion (Rs 12,206 crore). This new fund is first of its kind for the Silicon Valley investment firm, which has supported Indian IT companies like Mindtree and business process outsourcing venture, Quatrro in the past.
Tan further said, “It (semiconductors) is a very valuable space and exits are generally large, over $300 million or more. But not many companies get made in this space due to risks involved and lack of competent backers.” Walden is likely to invest around $2 million in one semiconductor startup. The investment firm also has plans to back organisations in consumer internet space. This is a boost for the entrepreneurs, who have been looking to raise capital for new ventures in electronic design and semiconductor software.
It was earlier difficult for electronics startups to attract the investors, but things seem to be changing after Walden’s interest in Indian firms. Only a few technology firms including Tejas Networks and Cosmic Circuits have been able to raised capital. Explaining the situation, Sanjay Nayak, founder of telecom products maker Tejas Networks told ET, “In India, funding of real tech start-ups which are in chip and systems designs is far and few.”
This new fund from Walden is incidentally introduced at a time when the Indian government has announced setting up of semiconductor fabs in the country.
