CDC invests Rs 4 crore in Aquila

BANGALORE: Nandi Investments Ltd. of Mauritius, a fund managed by CDC

Advisors Pvt. Ltd., has picked up a minority equity stake in the Bangalore-based

Aquila Technologies Pvt. Ltd. for Rs 4 crore. CDC is an international financial

institution that invests in emerging markets with an Indian portfolio of over

$200 million.

Five-year-old Aquila Technologies is geared to capture a major market share

in the area of transforming the e-tail business from the current form to the

future virtual malls on the Web. Aquila claims that this will mean extremely

high growth for the company in 2-3 years time. Aquila has developed a technology

for creating virtual 3-D models of the human face and the human body. The

company also undertakes software development services in mechanical CAD/PDM/CAE,

image processing, e-commerce solutions and network security.

Aquila is targeting revenues of Rs 100 crore in the next three years. As a

part of its expansion plan, the company will open offices in the US and Germany

in the next 3 months. Aquila plans to increase its number of employees from the

current 85 to 150 by March 2001 and to 350 by March 2002.