Midas Comm set to get $10m funding

Chennai-based Midas Communication Technologies is likely to see an infusion of $10 million from a venture capital company.

Midas officials said that agreement in this regard will be finalised in April, but refrained from naming the investor.

However, informed sources said Intel Venture Capital is the forerunner among the three VCs that Midas is in talks with.

Midas is also planning come with its initial public offering (IPO) two years from now.

The company provides last mile connectivity technology through solutions such as CorDECT in WLL space.

It's technologies are cheaper in terms of capital cost and hence is expected to have a good market in the rural areas where capex efficient systems alone can be implemented on a sustained basis.

Shirish B Purohit, CEO, Midas Communication, said, additional capital will be used for new product design and testing of prototypes.

The company is on a expansion mode and is planning to double its headcount over the next one year, from the present 320.

Purohit also said that the company was looking at a topline of over $100 million in 2004-05, against $50 million for the current fiscal.

Midas has already started design and development work at its new centre in Chennai spread over 18,000 sq ft with 200 engineers. The new R&D centre will also be expanded to 25,000 sq ft during the next fiscal.

Purohit said income from exports to neighbouring countries have grown exponentially in the last nine months.

The population in Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and Sri Lanka add up to 400 million, which is almost 40 per cent of India s population. This is huge market that is yet to be tapped properly.

The current user base to Midas CorDECT technology in these six countries is around 15,000 only. This is only the seed phase. In the coming year it will enter the multiplier phase where the user base will increase by almost 10 times.