Published: 29 Jul 2008:Intel Capital is to invest US$17 million in three Indian companies. The chosen companies include online travel portal Yatra.com.
The funding will come from the $250M Intel Capital India Technology fund.
Yatra will use Intel Capital funds to accelerate business growth, upgrade technology to add new products and features to their website and fund potential acquisition opportunities.
Intel Capital´s investment will be used to help Yatra become a full service provider, gain from increasing volume-based incentives and explore cross sell opportunities in various market segments (corporate travel, leisure, online travel bookings and hotel bookings).
Yatra´s investors include Norwest Venture Partners (NVP), Reliance Capital and Television 18 Group.
From operations´ perspective, the company recently indicated that it expects to post $250 million in revenues in calendar 2008.
Dhruv Shringi, chief executive officer, Yatra, reportedly said, "We generally get $25 million as revenue on a monthly basis. With oil prices stabilising, we expect business to pick up in three to four months. We expect to post $250 million by the year end."
