VC merges portfolio firms

In a move not rare for venture funds, Global Technology Ventures Ltd has merged two of its portfolio companies "" Global Edge Software, an embedded software services firm and Ionic Microsystems, a wireless local area network technology specialist.

Global Edge, the larger and more profitable of the two has bought the "assets" of Ionic Microsystems, but not the firm itself, whose finances were in the red.

In effect this reduces the smaller firm to only a legal entity while its technology and staff of 25 will now be part of the larger firm.

Some of the promoters in Ionic will as a result get stock in Global Edge, while none has found a place on the latter's board, company officials said.

Ionic Microsystems, based in Bangalore, sells system-level designs, firmware and middleware required for small local wireless networks. Ionic specialises in Voice over IP, Video-on-demand, WLAN and Blue Tooth technologies for such networks, a Global Edge release said.

Global Edge, founded in 1992, has a design and development centre in Bangalore and marketing offices in US. Some 300 engineers work on embedded, wireless and residential gateway technologies, for customers like Analog Devices, Marvell, Broadcom, HP, Samsung and Siemens.

The firm was "profitable" last year, with revenues of Rs 17 crore. For the year to March 31, it will be between Rs 21 crore and Rs 22 crore, M P Kumar, chairman and CEO of Global Edge said.

"We anticipate rapid growth over the next few years in line with the global market. The total global potential Embedded market revenue today is about $21 Billion, growing yearly at 16 per cent," Kumar said. Staff will increase to 450 in two years, he said.