Temasek leads $60M round in analytics co Manthan; IDG exits, Fidelity part-exits

Singapore's state owned investment firm Temasek has led a $60 million (Rs 370 crore) investment round in Bangalore-based Manthan Software Services Pvt Ltd, a provider of business intelligence and Big Data analytics solutions for enterprises. Existing investor Norwest Venture Partners also participated, according to a top executive of the company.

VCCircle was the first to report in November that Temasek is in talks to invest in Manthan.

The investment includes both a primary issue where Manthan gets fresh financial resource as well as a secondary component where one of the three existing investors IDG Ventures has exited from the company. Another existing investor Fidelity has partially exited.

The quantum of money going into the firm could not be immediately ascertained but a Mint report said the firm received Rs 105 crore as part of the investment round a few weeks ago.

Atul Jalan, founder, Manthan, declined to comment on the exact amount that will be infused in the company and amount reserved for secondary sale. However, he said that Manthan has an excellent track record of providing healthy exits to its investors.

He said the money will be used for R&D, hiring sales staff and strengthening presence in the Bay area in the US and Europe.

Norwest VP and Fidelity had invested $2.95 million (around Rs 18 crore) in the company in June last year and $4 million (Rs 22 crore) in January 2013. The two had also brought in $15 million in Series C round of funding around three years ago, bulk of which went to previous investors IDG Ventures India and DFJ ePlanet Ventures, with the latter exiting the company then.

Initially Manthan had raised Rs 47 lakh in seed funding from SIDBI Venture Capital in 2005 valuing it $2.5 million and two years later bagged a Series A round worth Rs 24 crore from IDG Ventures India and DFJ ePlanet Ventures at a valuation of over $13 million.

It also attracted a Series B round estimated at $15 million in 2009 led by Fidelity, with participation from IDG Ventures India and DFJ ePlanet Ventures. Bulk of the money went to SIDBI Venture Capital.

Manthan is understood to be generating revenues worth over Rs 130 crore.

Founded in 2004, Manthan's analytics solutions combine advanced predictive analytics, actionable insights and customer knowledge to help retailers identify and drive growth opportunities. The firm claims that it has served over 120 retail and CPG clients across 19 countries. Its clients include Love's, Teavana, Crocs, Ecco, Ipsos, Novartis, McDonald's, Ripley, SM Group, Robinsons and NTUC Fairprice.

With headquarters in Bangalore, the firm also has offices in the US, the UK, the Philippines, Singapore and Brazil.

In the space, Bangalore-based pure-play analytics provider Fractal Analytics raised an undisclosed amount in funding from Canadian loyalty management firm Aimia. India- and US-based Mu Sigma Inc., one of the leading Big Data analytics companies in the world, is in talks with a group of investors to raise upwards of $200 million in fresh funding.

Temasek has been aggressive in backing Indian firms. Although this deal apparently happened in December itself, since then it has also signed agreements to buy stake in Medanta and Silicon Valley Bank's Indian venture debt arm.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)