Indian tech firm gets $9 m in funding

BANGALORE: CustomerAsset, an Indian firm which provides customer relationship

management services primarily via the Internet, said on Thursday that it had

received $9 million in a second round of venture funding.

Global investment firm, antfactory led the funding while venture capital

firm, eVentures India, also contributed, CustomerAsset said in a statement.

eVentures is a joint undertaking of Japanese Internet investor Softbank,

epartners, a subsidiary of media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News Corp and expatriate

Indian tycoon P K Mittal. In the first round of funding a year ago, eVentures

India had invested $3.3 million in the firm.

"The ramping up of operations of CustomerAsset's existing clients as

well as prospective clients, expected to come on board shortly, has warranted

the expansion of existing capabilities," the statement from the firm said.

The one-year-old CustomerAsset plans to treble its staff to 1,500 by the end of

April 2002 and expand its operations in Australia.

It also plans to strengthen existing operations in the United States and

United Kingdom. The Bangalore-based CustomerAsset offers customer relationship

management services, mostly to sales and marketing units of firms, besides

database management and consulting services.

(C) Reuters Limited 2001.