New Venture Ecosystem India Update - May 3, 2007

Foreign Investment in Pref Shares now on par with Debt

According to a Ministry of Finance circular, government will now treat foreign investment in preference shares that are not fully convertible into equity shares, issued by Indian companies on par with foreign debt. It has implications on typical mechanism of venture fund investment. Checkout, this business standard’s educational piece about this developing story

Clearstone Venture Partners - Sectors of Open Interest

According to Sumant Mandal, managing director, Clearstone Venture Advisors, Clearstone, is actively looking to invest in tech-driven businesses in financial services, communications, content & entertainment segments.

In India, Clearstone has so far invested in Iindiaideas.com (bill desk $5 million), DigiBee (mobile handset $5million) Games2win ($5 million) India in March. Globally it has invested in a series of successful ventures such as eToys, Overture, PayPal, United Online and MP3.com

Here is a link to original TOI news item