European VC firm Amadeus Capital to back Indian mobile-tech, digital media & internet startups

London-based technology-focused venture capital firm Amadeus Capital Partners is opening an office in India and is in the process of hiring a head for the local unit as it includes India in the list of geographies where it plans to invest, according to a Mint report citing a top executive with the investment firm.

Amadeus will occupy the middle end of VC investment where it will skip both very early stage and late stage deals. It would invest $5-10 million in Indian firms providing mobile technology, financial services, digital media and online services.

"The Indian market right now is at a tipping point and there's a lot of maturity in the market, particularly in the online services space," Jason Pinto, a partner at the firm, told the newspaper adding that the company expects to close a few deals before it opens the India office.

The firm currently has offices in London, Cambridge, San Francisco and Stockholm and India is the next destination where it has plans to have a permanent office for next few years.

Amadeus Capital had made first close of the Amadeus IV Digital Prosperity Fund, the first of its fourth generation of funds, at $75 million in July 2013. South African telecom firm MTN Group is the cornerstone investor in the fund.

Amadeus has identified 19 developing countries, including India, as target markets for innovative online and mobile services.

It made the first investment of $8.9 million from this fund in the Brazil-based insurance price comparison and brokerage business firm Bidu. The funding saw participation from Monashees Capital, Bertelsmann, and Otto Capital Partners, apart from Amadeus.

Currently, the venture capital firm has around £500 million under management and has invested in over 85 firms, since its inception in 1997, in firms across the US, Europe and Latin America.

Early this year it raised £33.2 million in the first closing of the Amadeus IV Early Stage Funds, a programme of funds that will invest in UK companies developing disruptive technologies in high-growth sectors, including 'big data' analytics, cloud computing and cyber security, low-power computing and the 'internet of things', medical technology and digital healthcare.