GlueBeans merges with NextSet Software

BANGALORE: The California-based software company GlueBeans has merged with NextSet Software, the US-based start-up, in a stock swap deal, details of which were not disclosed. Following the merger, Orchid Soft India, the wholly-owned subsidiary of GlueBeans which has development centers in Bangalore and Chennai, will be renamed NextSet India.

The two-year-old GlueBeans was co-founded by Vijay Oddiraju and Krishan Sudharshan, two Oracle employees, along with Uday Thakur, previously with the Java group of Sun Microsystems. The company offers component-based solutions for extended enterprise integration, and has developed an asynchronous EJB technology.

Vijay Oddiraju, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, said that the decision to merge with NextSet Software, which offers enterprise integration solutions, was to complement and leverage on each other's strengths. "In order to meet the challenges posed by a B2B e-commerce market, which has been projected to reach $7.29 trillion by 2004, the market demands an open, scalable and robust solution--where B2B interdependency

is enhanced and information technology dependencies are minimized or eliminated. We want to utilize this opportunity. By our combined strength, we think it is possible," he added. Simon Yencken, Chairman and CEO, NextSet Software, said, while most of the integration solutions available currently are proprietary ones, GlueBeans offers a component-based integration infrastructure that are based on Enterprise JavaBeans, which makes the company unique. He said that `Internet-ready' solution for integration within and beyond the enterprise, being developed by GlueBeans, will be in great demand by corporations. "There are very few companies in this space, as such we get the advantage of an early start," he said.

Besides GlueBean's two software centers in the country, NextSet will be setting up an additional development center in Hyderabad. It plans to invest around $5 million to $10 million in the next two years, which will go towards setting up infrastructure and funding acquisitions. Details for the fundraising plan are being worked out. It is already in talks with

venture capitalists and hopes to raise nearly $20million. A NASDAQ listing is in the cards, he added.