Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Friday, Dec 24, 2004
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Friday, Dec 24, 2004 |
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Markets
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Venture Capital APIDC Venture Cap mobilises Rs 150 cr for biotech fund Ch. Prashanth Reddy
Hyderabad , Dec. 23 APIDC Venture Capital has mobilised Rs 150 crore for its biotech fund, five times more than the Rs 30 crore envisaged when it was floated a year ago. The APIDC VC Managing Director, Mr Sarath Naru, told Business Line that the fund has achieved financial closure in respect of Indian investors following receipt of Rs 106 crore from domestic institutions. The overseas part of the investment in the fund was, however, kept open for investors who have been already approved. Overseas investments to the tune of Rs 50 crore have been committed by American venture capitalists and institutional investors from Europe and West Asia. The maximum cap for the biotech fund was set at Rs 150 crore, he said. When the fund was set up, the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Development Corporation (APIDC) came forward to contribute Rs 15 crore and asked the venture capital to mobilise an additional Rs 30 crore. Stating that the Technology Development Board (TDB) has made a commitment of Rs 30 crore for the fund, Mr Naru said that this was the first ever commitment made by the TDB to a venture capital. Besides, he said, the return on TDB investment was capped at 4 per cent to attract others to make investments in the fund. Any returns above the rate of 4 per cent obtained from the TDB investment would be shared by the other investors in the biotech fund. This had been done on the lines of what was being practiced by the Small Business Investment Corporation of the US and YOZMA of Israel. Already, APIDC VC had committed investments to the tune of Rs 30 crore to seven new biotech companies. These included an investment of Rs 5 crore in a company incorporated to leverage ayurvedic knowledge for making allopathic drugs. Similarly, investment was made in a company that wanted to map the Indian genetic profile to produce drugs specific to Indian population.
More Stories on : Venture Capital | Bio-tech & Genetics
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