NRIs launch $7mn AP Investment Fund

NRIs launch $7mn AP Investment Fund - May 29, 2007
- US-based NRI entrepreneurs Venkatesh Tadinanda and Pradeep Shenoy and Hyderabad-based entrepreneur Indira Porwal have launched an AP Investment Fund worth $7 million.

- The sole objective of the fund is "investing in companies that are based in the state and are focussed on sectors such as information technology, biotechnology and other knowledge-based services which are aligned to the state's vision to transform itself into a knowledge society."

- Venkatesh, CEO, Andhra Pradesh Investment Fund told newsmen that the Fund is being financed by philanthropic NRI investors who want to give back to their state and the country "which invested in them and contributed to the success levels they have attained.
- He said the fund would be created in two phases. While $ 2 million would be raised by the end of current year, another $ 5 million would be raised next year in the second phase. He said the funds would be raised through 'investment club' where investors can invest amounts ranging from $25,000 to $100,000, which would go into the creation of the proposed corpus.
- Already, the Fund has raised $350,000 and received four proposals for funding.
- Venkatesh has promoted a couple of start-ups including Solivar Inc, a Hyderabad-based IT company offering solutions to the insurance and healthcare verticals, while Pradeep is an engineer and alumnus of IIM, Kolkata who earlier served as Global CEO of SQL Star International.
- I belong to Andhra Pradesh and I owe to the state a huge debt of gratitude for whatever I am today. My colleague Pradeep Shenoy, though not hailing from this state, has spent a significant part of his working life here.