One97 Mobility Fund ropes in Arun Katiyar as venture catalyst

One97 Mobility Fund (OMF), a $100 million investment fund set up by Delhi-based mobile VAS company One97 Communications Ltd and PE major SAIF Partners, has roped in media and business leader Arun Katiyar as a venture catalyst. Katiyar will actively engage with the leadership teams of OMF's portfolio companies and mentor them on their business strategies.

Commenting on the appointment, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, chairman and MD of One97 Communications, said, "I am happy to bring his expertise to our portfolio companies. Entrepreneurs will love his depth of understanding and problem-solving style evolving from his entrepreneurial background."

Katiyar brings with him over three decades of experience in media business. He was the founder and chief operating officer (COO) of the online business venture of the India Today Group and was a part of the leadership team at Indya.com, before moving on to head the private FM radio station Radio City. In 2005, he founded SEraja, a mobile-based event-centric service, and is currently involved in a project that aims to create a framework for managing and measuring business integrity, with the focus on Indian companies.

"This is a significant opportunity to develop the telecom ecosystem in the country as I am working with the One97 Mobility Fund and the leadership teams of the companies who are a part of the fund. Also, identifying and nurturing startups are exciting," said Katiyar.

OMF is a $100 million fund that invests across seed, early-stage and growth-stage companies, with the average deal size ranging between $5,00,000 and $5 million. The fund invests in companies serving the Indian markets and leveraging the mobile platform as a key delivery medium for customers and enterprises (like device apps, location-based services, mobile commerce, video and content aggregation, among others).

Some of its key investments include companies like TheMobileGamer, Leapsky, Ciqual, Paytm, Dexetra and Raining Clouds. Besides investments, One97 also supports the companies with human capital, work space and market access.

Interestingly, One97 had also received Series A funding from SAIF Partners, with Silicon Valley Bank participating in that round as well.

(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)