Nadathur Holdings and Investments Limited, a private equity firm, is planning to tie up with R&D labs in the country both in terms of funding and sharing of expertise to promote life sciences research in the country. | |
| The company has also sought the help of R A Mashelkar, director-general of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and secretary of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, in this regard. |
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| Speaking to Business Standard, Nadathur Holdings and Investments chairman N S Raghavan said, "We have initiated talks with a few R&D labs in the country. But we are in the early stages of discussion and therefore cannot disclose the exact details." Nadathur Holdings typically invests between Rs 1 crore and Rs 15 crore in a portfolio company. Raghavan, however, added that they would not mind investing $15 million in a lab as well. |
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| "We see great opportunity in the life sciences sector and are looking at investing in research that involves nano-technology, medical diagnostics etc. By 2009, there will be greater growth in life sciences when compared to information technology in terms of the investment that these sectors will get," Raghavan, who was earlier the founder and joint managing director of Infosys Technologies Ltd, said. |
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| This apart, Nadathur Holdings has invested more than Rs 120 crore in 17 companies so far. Four others in the life sciences and IT sector are on its radar now. "These companies are based out of Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai," Raghavan said. |
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| Some of the entities that Nadathur Holdings has funded include Metahelix Life Sciences, an agri biotech company, CADES Digitech Private Ltd, an engineering product design and development company with domain expertise in aerospace and automotive industry, and Indegene Lifesystems, a pharmaceutical marketing services firm. |
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| Nadathur has also sponsored $50,000 as seed money for one of the award-winning entrepreneurs at the The Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) and TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) India Venture Challenge held at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. |
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