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| Connectiva Systems, Inc. (India) |
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| Summary of Proposed Investment |
| This Summary of Proposed Investment is prepared and distributed to the public in advance of the IFC Board of Directors’ consideration of the proposed transaction. Its purpose is to enhance the transparency of IFC’s activities, and this document should not be construed as presuming the outcome of the Board decision. Board dates are estimates only. |
| Project number | 27146 |
| Company name | Connectiva Systems, Inc. |
| Country | India |
| Sector | Professional, Scientific and Technical Services |
| Environmental category | C |
| Department | Global Inform. & Comm. Tech. |
| Status | Active |
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| Date SPI disclosed | April 11, 2008 |
| Projected board date | May 29, 2008 |
| Previous Events | Invested: August 20, 2008
Signed: August 15, 2008
Approved: June 5, 2008 |
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| Overview |
Sponsor/Cost/Location |
Development Impact |
Contacts |
Attachments |
| Project description |
Connectiva Systems Inc. (Connectiva or the company) is a private company that has developed software products for telecom operators to get more financial performance from their existing infrastructure. It does so by detecting and preventing revenue leakage from their operations. Revenue leakage can be caused by billing errors, network problems, fraud, roaming issues, and many other causes.
Connectiva’s award-winning flagship product is ONEREViEW™ — whose unique process-driven approach helps service providers improve their business and financial performance dramatically. Telecom operators who have partnered with Connectiva to identify and recover revenue leakage include Bharti Televentures, the MTC Group of Companies, Wataniya Telecom, Tunisiana, BSNL, Etisalat and Cable & Wireless. Connectiva has won the largest revenue assurance contracts in the industry, and has received several prestigious industry awards, including "Best Revenue Assurance" award at World Billing Awards for its project with MTC, and runner-up award at the World BSS Awards 2007 for "Best Revenue Assurance/Management Project" for Wataniya Telecom.
Connectiva was founded in 2000 in New York and most of their employees are based in Kolkata, India. The Company is looking to raise up to $15 million in equity funding to:
- scale its infrastructure and customer delivery operations in Kolkata,
- fund Research & Development to continue to develop innovative products, and
- ramp up sales and marketing operations. |
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| Project sponsor and major shareholders of project company |
Connectiva was founded by Avi Basu who has been responsible for leading the growth of Connectiva since its inception. He has over 15 years of experience in the telecom industry and prior to founding Connectiva, he has held executive leadership positions for global companies including LHS InfoCell and SEMA. Other key management includes Dr. Amitava Maulik, Chief Scientist, Kaustav Ghosh, VP of Operations, India, and Jack Kundamal, Vice President, Client Services.
The company’s investors include venture capital funds, Ovation Capital Partners and Carthage Capital Group. |
| Total project cost and amount and nature of IFC's investment |
| IFC has been invited to invest $5 million in preferred equity shares and the remaining funding will be provided by other equity investors. |
| Location of project and description of site |
| While the company’s CEO and VP of Client Services are located in New York, the remaining management team and most of their 250 employees are based in Kolkata, India. IFC’s investment will only be used to expand operations and support development in Kolkata. |
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| Anticipated development impact of the project |
| The project will support a company located in West Bengal, a frontier region of India, with developmental and economic indicators similar to most IDA countries. Additionally, the project will support an IT company in this region, which is located outside the traditional IT corridor in India, and where engineering and IT jobs are not as readily available. Finally, the project will also support a Company that is developing core intellectual property therefore contributing to skill generation in the local market. |
| IFC's expected development contribution |
- Supporting a Kolkata-based company that is located away from the core IT industry corridor in India,
- Supporting a related community mentoring program, the Kolkata technology incubator, through our InfoDev group,
- Ability to provide ongoing support, through both equity and debt capital, as the company grows,
- Advising the company on global telecom industry trends to help shape its growth and customer acquisition strategy,
- Advising the company on an appropriate local holding structure and strategy towards public listing in India, and
- Advising the company on corporate governance, insurance, environmental & social issues, financial management and future capital raising efforts. |
| Environmental and social issues - Category C |
Connectiva is expected to focus on selling software and software tools to businesses, using leased office space and computer networks, with minimal environmental and social impacts. As a result, at early review this has been classified as a Category C project according to IFC's Environmental and Social Review Procedure, to be confirmed after appraisal. |
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| For inquiries about the project, contact: |
Connectiva Systems India Private Ltd.
J-2, Block EP & GP
Salt Lake, Sector V,
Kolkata - 700 091
India
Phone: +91 33 2357 7531/7532
Fax: +91 33 2357 7563
Connectiva Systems, Inc.
15 East 40th Street, Suite 901
New York, NY 10016
Phone: +1.646.722.8741
Fax: +1.212.532.4898
Email: info@connectivasystems.com
Website : http://www.connectivasystems.com |
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| For inquiries and comments about IFC, contact: |
General IFC Inquiries
IFC Corporate Relations
2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington DC 20433
Telephone: 202-473-3800
Fax: 202-974-4384
E Mail: Webmaster |
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