Planetasia.Com In Talks For Six More Tech Link-Ups

Riding on a 650 per cent increase in revenues during 1999-2000, Planetasia.com, part of the Microland Group, is all set go in for six more technology tie-ups during the current financial year.

"The revenues are as per our projections and these alliances will help us achieve our target in five years," Planetasia.com Ltd president Anand Sudarshan said.

Planetasia, one of the world's leading Internet professional services (IPS) providers, hopes to post $50 million in revenue in three years and $150 million in five years. Since September, 1999, the company has been posting profits on a month-to-month basis. At present, Planetasia has alliances with Ariba, Vignette, Microsoft, Oracle, IBM and Intel. Within three years of its inception, Planetasia has been valued at around $100 million.

 

Sudarshan said the company is talking to a few major international companies for tie-ups, some of which may be formalised soon.

On the horizon is an initial public offering (IPO), which is expected to be floated in the next few quarters.

"The plans (for an IPO) are not frozen yet, but an IPO will help us access funds abroad and our valuation will certainly go up," Sudarshan said.

Even the stocks allotted will have real value and the company will be able to access funds abroad, he added.

During round one of funding, ICICI Venture came on board by picking up around 12 per cent stake in the company for around $750,000. In the second round, Chase Capital Partners picked up around 34 per cent stake in the company for around $2 million.

Sudarshan said the company plans to set up another office in the US which would most probably be in the west coast and two more offices either in Hong Kong, Singapore or London.

According to Sudarshan, Planetasia already has 11 international clients. He said the company was strong in five segments which include, business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce solutions, business-to consumer (B2C) e-commerce solutions, portals, brands on the web, application service provider solutions, knowledge management solutions and after-market services.

After-market services consist of strategic advice services and search engine optimisation which enhances the value of their web solutions.

Sudarshan said in the high value segment, the company was hired for strategy consulting for one of India's largest supermarket chains. In financial services, it has worked with online brokerage houses to develop solutions for online trading, while in media, Planetasia has carried out strategy consulting projects for five leading publication houses and is currently developing portals for three other clients.