Sequoia, Silicon Valley invest $ 4 mn in Ideacts Innovations

Televisionpoint.com Correspondent | Mumbai
Sequoia Capital India and Silicon Valley Bank have jointly acquired a minority stake in Ideacts Innovations, a Mumbai-based Internet media firm, which capitalises on the vast base of white-labeled cyber cafes to use their computer screens for promotional communications.

In 2007, Sequoia had picked up a minority stake in the company for $ 5 million. Although, the exact quantum of present investment could not be ascertained, it is learnt to be around $ 4 million, according to sources.

Rudrajeet Desai, co-founder and CEO, Ideacts Innovations, has confirmed the second round of funding development to Televisionpoint.com and said, "We are happy that Sequoia, who was our first investor in 2007, has continued to show interest in the business, along with Silicon Valley. The corpus raised this year will help us expand our operations in India."

Ideacts is an internet media venture founded in March 2007 by Rudrajeet Desai, Maninder Gill and Saurabh Khullar. Its first product Clinck is an active desktop application, which creates a default interface for users to access Internet.

Clinck media platform offers about 80 per cent of the space on each computer screen to three or four advertisers who pay the company according to the number of times a server hits the homepage.

Sequoia is one of the earliest VC firms to enter India. It currently has funds worth $ 1.8 billion under management of which $ 1 billion is unutilised. The VC firm plans to invest it in sectors including consumer retail, technology, financial services and energy over the next 3-4 years.