Benchmark gets $40m Indian funding

Stan Beer
Monday, 12 December 2005 15:40

IT Industry - Strategy

Melbourne-based software start-up, Benchmark Holdings, established by former Infosys Australia boss Ananda Rao, has secured $40 million worth of prime real estate in Bangalore from an Indian property developer for equity in the new company.

Under the deal, private investor, Mahadev Gowda, has exchanged approximately 200 acres of land, estimated to be worth $40 million to fund the growth and development of Benchmark Holding's group of data and information management companies. The transaction will see Mr Gowda transfer ownership of the real estate to Benchmark Holdings in return for an undiclosed amount of equity in the Company and a position on the board.

According to Mr Rao, CEO of Benchmark Holdings, the value of real estate in Bangalore has been appreciating at greater than 30% annually, fueled by the region's explosive economic growth, making this form of equity funding extremely attractive.

Mr Rao said the Company now plans to raise $16 million in cash by stapling real estate with equity in Benchmark. He said this
would provide Benchmark investors “security” that comes with real estate plus “high returns” one can expect from good IT companies – a very low risk high return option combination.

According to Mr Rao, the funds will be used to capitalise on Benchmark’s first mover advantage in the information management market by rapidly expanding operations in Australia and overseas, as well as commercialising the company's new information management product.

“We are now in the process of developing specific industry based solutions built around our core software product, Vivace, and will start our marketing and sales activities in Australia and key markets overseas early next year. Vivace, helps organisations move to a near real-time digital environment by transforming the way information is managed across an entire business value chain. Vivace aggregates, bundles and distributes all forms of information and content, activates tools and initiates web services in any large connected environment,” said Mr Rao.

Benchmark Holdings' new investor, Mr Gowda, described the the company as an exciting investment opportunity as it has an experienced leadership team including Mr Rao, a very unique technology and is well positioned to take a leadership position in the information solutions market.

“Benchmark is taking the complexity out of information management and has a tremendous opportunity to provide the missing tools and solutions required today to help organisations extract the maximum business value from their existing information, regardless of its format,” said Mr Gowda.

Over the next three months, Benchmark plans to appointment several senior managers who will be taking on global responsibilities within the group.