25.10.09

Catamaran snippets

Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy said his new venture capital (VC) fund will be called ‘Catamaran’, and will help entrepreneurs across sectors such as healthcare, retail, technology with early stage investments. “I have always believed that entrepreneurship is an instrument of creating jobs, and is the best way to solve poverty of a country like India,” Mr Murthy told media in an early morning conference call on Friday. In a statement to the stock exchanges on Thursday, Infosys said Mr Murthy had sold eight lakh shares, some 0.13% of the company on October 21 and 22, raising around Rs 174.30 crore. “I have obtained permission from the CEO, and will perhaps expand the capital at an appropriate time,” he added. He declined to elaborate about the size of investments he would make in shortlisted companies, but said will never be a limiting factor. “We will not be in a hurry to finish the fund, there’s no time limit for spending,” he added. Catamaran derived from ‘kattumaram’ in Tamil is a multi-hulled boat, which moves very swiftly. “It’s like a small boat that is very agile,” said Mr Murthy. “Ideally, we’ll start investing in a year or two, and would like to do early stage investments.” In order to ensure the agility of his new venture fund, the Infosys founder will initially hire some 3-4 young, smart individuals to be based in Bangalore. “I am already 63, so we will have smart people who know more than I do.” Mr Murthy would also mentor companies and will help them flesh out their ideas by connecting with other partners. “VCs will have to help entrepreneurs in crystallising ideas, they will have to do this.”

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