Intel Capital to invest $40 mn in 10 deals, including Hungama.com

India's Hungama.com, a digital entertainment platform, is among 10 new investments totalling $40 million announced by Intel Capital, the venture capital arm of chipmaker Intel, on Tuesday.

Hungama.com, a subsidiary of Hungama Digital, operates digital entertainment stores offering access to movies, music and games. The fully paid platform currently has over 5,000 films. Chairman Neeraj Roy said the infusion of fresh funds would help the company expand internationally, without more detail.

Headquartered in Mumbai, Hungama.com targets South Asian communities.

"In the first year, we have clocked 15 million unique consumers. This week we launched in the MiddleEast. We will now take Hungama.com to 30 countries where there will be local content," Roy told Business Today, on the sidelines of the Intel Capital Summit in southern California.

Hungama.com is the only Indian company to have attracted fresh funds from Intel Capital this year so far.

Funding activity has dropped remarkably in 2012. In 2011, Intel Capital had invested $56 million in 17 Indian companies. A dozen of them were new companies while the rest received follow-on rounds. In 2012 in comparison, Intel Capital has mostly done follow-on rounds in companies such as July Systems, Tejas Networks and PolicyBazaar.com.

An executive from Intel Capital India said deals are coming back after a pause and that many more deals in India will close early next year. Many VCs had gone cautious because of poor macro-economic and political environment in the country.

According to a report by research company Venture Intelligence, about $363 million was invested in India in the first six months of 2012 compared to $520 million in the first half of 2011.

A report by audit and consultancy firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers stated that private equity companies in India invested US$1,616 million across 97 deals in the second quarter of 2012, a drop of 35 per cent in terms of value and 23 per cent in terms of volume compared to the year-ago period.

(The writer is attending the Intel Capital Summit in Southern California on the invitation of the VC firm)