Bangalore-based NxtGen Datacenter raises $8.8M from Intel Capital

Bangalore-based IT infrastructure services provider NxtGen Datacenter & Cloud Technologies Pvt Ltd has raised $8.8 million (Rs 53.9 crore) from Intel Capital, the global investment and merger & acquisition (M&A) arm of Intel Corporation. The investment director for the funding was Pradeep Tagare, who is also the director of Intel Capital India, and the investment came from the $250 million Intel Capital India Technology Fund, which was established in December 2005.

NxtGen will utilise the funds to complete its upcoming large and high density data centre in Bangalore, and for further development of on-premise data centres. BMR Advisors were the sole transaction advisors to NxtGen for the deal.

Commenting on the funding, AS Rajgopal, MD and CEO of NxtGen, said, "Our centrally managed, hybrid data centre solutions offer customers reliable, secure and efficient IT infrastructure that helps companies optimise their central IT platforms. This investment from Intel Capital will be used to complete the large high density data centre facility coming up in Bangalore, which we expect to be operational by March 2014, and for further development of on-premise data centres.

"In the first year, the growth rate was good as we stared from zero," he added.

Founded in May 2012 by Rajgopal, the startup delivers central IT platform as a service to enterprises, providing full spectrum data centre and enterprise cloud services from its own high density data centre facilities and deploying centrally managed on-premise data centres at customer locations. While the company is currently focusing on markets in India and the Middle East, it is also planning to enter the South-east Asia.

NxtGen has a cloud-based data centre in Bangalore and is looking to launch more in Mumbai, the Middle East and Sri Lanka.

"Intel Capital's latest investment demonstrates the breadth of innovation in India, with the companies here at the forefront of cloud computing and data infrastructure services," said Arvind Sodhani, president of Intel Capital and Intel's executive vice-president.

Till date, Intel Capital has invested over $330 million in more than 90 technology companies across 10 cities in India. The firm invests in a broad range of companies offering hardware, software and services for sectors such as enterprise, mobility, health, consumer internet, digital media and semiconductor manufacturing.

In June this year, Intel Capital disclosed an investment of $16 million in three companies – Gurgaon-based startup Bright Lifecare Pvt Ltd, which runs the online health store Healthkart.com; Delhi-based e-commerce firm Snapdeal and Singapore-based online retailer Raboonz.com. However, Intel Capital did not specify the amount it invested in each company.

(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)