US venture capitalists bullish on Indian market

US venture capitalists bullish on Indian market
Business Standard, January 7, 2010, Section II, Page 2

Press Trust of India, NEW YORK

After a lull of investments in the venture capital space last year, the US venture capitalists are optimistic about the future prospects of this segment in 2010 and said that India and China would attract a large chunk of these fund flows, a st udy said.

According to leading global audit, tax and advisory firm KPMG, the venture capital community is signalling an uptick in overall venture capital (VC) investment in 2010 and expects IPO activity and valuations of venture-backed companies to trend upward ne xt year.

Majority of respondents were of the opinion that “China and India are expected to remain very attractive regions for 2010, while Brazil, Israel and Southeast Asia will also see an increased venture investment.”

“There is no question that the economic and market conditions of the past two years have been difficult for the venture capital community, but we are clearly seeing indications of a light at the end of the tunnel,” the KPMG partner and co-leader of its v enture capital practice, Mr Packy Kelly, said.

As many as 68 per cent of respondents said that they expect total VC investment to increase in the year ahead — a completely different perspective from a year ago when 74 per cent said they expected investment levels to decline.

Venture capitalists also expect increases in deal volume (66 per cent) and venture fund-raising (53 per cent). — PTI