ProSIM R&D looks for venture capital funds to expand

ProSIM R&D Pvt Ltd, the Bangalore-based engineering solutions provider in the areas of automotive, aerospace, power, medical and general engineering, is expanding its development centre in the city.

It is also scouting for venture capital investment of around $2 million to go from one centre to four.

The company provides computer-simulated casting solutions to manufacturing companies and helps them develop moulds and processes by reducing defects, product development time and cost.

Said S Shamasundar, Managing Director, ProSIM, "Traditionally, companies have been dependent on the trial and error method in producing the tool design and required dies and moulds, which takes away a lot of time and costs huge investments. This method also involves a lot of wastage of metal and the percentage of defects is high. To avoid this we have developed computer-simulated casting solutions that help companies improve their yield by up to 60-80 per cent in developing dies and moulds."

ProSIM, besides developing its own casting software, has also tied up with Japanese technology major Hitachi to bring to India the new generation software for the casting industry. Hitachi has appointed ProSIM as the sole distributor of their casting simulation software, Adstefan, in India. According to Shamasundar, Adstefan helps users get complete information on defect formation and take measures to improve yield.

With its help ProSIM has been able to reduce the cycle time from five months to three months to develop components. It aims to sell at least 100 licenses in the next couple of years, he said.

The company hopes to capture a sizeable share of the designing work of the Indian casting industry which is presently worth $4 billion and growing at 30-40 per cent annually.

ProSIM has been working with companies like Ashok Leyland, Tata Motors and Tata Steel, Kennametal India, BHEL, Rane Group, General Motors, General Electric, Hyundai, Delphi and defence establishments like NAL and HAL.

"With a big boom happening in the automotive and aerospace sectors, the country in the next three years is likely to witness an investment of Rs 15,000 crore in the casting industry alone. We want to make use of the opportunity to grow our business. We have reached a critical mass and are set to grow faster in the years to come," Shamasundar told Business Standard.

The company, which presently has a team of 45 engineers is planning to increase the headcount to 150 in the next two years. It reported a revenue of $1 million in 2007 and is aiming at $3 million sales by March 2008.