Companies that participated in Internet segment:

By Pluggd In, 22 Jul 2007

Inasra: Product: Inasra - a hotel booking service, Inasra goes a level deep and covers more than the hotels. Their coverage includes (apart from the regular hotels) service apartments, cheap hotels - right from price range of 300 - 45K! Read our review here Looking for funding (VC who can mentor them as well) and partnerships. Pennywise Solutions Product: tolmolbol, a local search service present across 100 Indian cities. The presentation was well scripted and tolmolbol guys did a good job of showcasing their features (business search, SMS contact details, reviews/social network, events, classifieds, QnA) Read our coverage with Anand, CEO (interview, podcast) and analysis of local search space. @ Proto: tolmolbol is looking for product feedback, and also used the platform to increase awareness of the product. Tyroo Product: Tyroo A self-served ad network, Tyroo is a contextual advertising network. Very interesting presentation - rich visuals, Tyroo did “advertise” itself well. Looking for product feedbacks/users/market expansion and recruitment as well. Skillworth Technologies: Product: Cricko, CricTV, Aiming to tap the cricket frenzy, Cricko is an interactive media cricket network that allows one to play games and earn points (which can be redeemed). Looking for VC funding and partners. RouteGuru: Well, they are solving a big pain (read the product review here) - enables one to look for driving direction using landmarks. They showcased couple of new features in Proto: RouteMap / Widgets and RouteHints Related: Podcast with Avinash, founder of RouteGuru, Elephant vs. Ant Looking for funding and partnerships. MineKey Product: MineKey is a web2.0 startup in contextual content recommendation space. They have already received round A funding. At proto: to showcase their product. Genie Interactive Product: Voiee is a simple voicemail and voice messaging systems. Deepak did a good “live” demo (was way too scared of Murphy’s law! - BTW his login failed the first time!!) and sared few of the features that Voiee is working on. Looking for strategic partnerships, and investors.

Yahoo buys 35% stake in Tyroo Media

Tyroo-Press Release-By The Hindu Business Line, Jul 19, 2007

Our Bureau New Delhi, July 18 Yahoo Inc on Wednesday said it will buy over 35 per cent in Gurgaon-based Tyroo Media Pvt Ltd. Tyroo, a part of Smile Interactive Technologies Group (Smile Group), is an ad-network, which offers services for advertisers and publishers. The investment is expected to enable Tyroo to access Yahoo’s knowledge of Internet advertising and help Tyroo in expansion. Yahoo, however, did not divulge the quantum of the investment. “Through this investment, Yahoo would act as a catalyst for the entire ad-network industry in India, which is still in a nascent stage. It would also signify our increasing focus in Indian online advertising networks,” Mr George Zacharias, Managing director of Yahoo India, told reporters here. The cash infusion by Yahoo would be used to invest in technology and sales network to reach out to small and medium sized advertisers and publishers in India. Tyroo plans to offer newer ad-formats, enhanced customer support and flexibility to advertisers and publishers in managing campaigns. Tyroo is planning to to set up sales offices across the country and recruit more people by the year end. Yahoo will get a seat on the board of the company.

Yahoo Buys Part of Indian Ad Company Tyroo

By Search Engine Watch, July 18, 2007

The purchase of a major portion of Tyroo, the Indian online ad company, is seen as a further push into the fast growing Indian market. "There are millions of potential advertisers in India, which all the search companies and advertising networks are chasing", George Zacharias, managing director of Yahoo India told InfoWorld. Yahoo started beta testing its search-based advertising business in India over a year ago and opened it to the public about eight months ago and "so far has a few thousand small advertisers", Zacharias said.

Yahoo India Makes Strategic Investment In Ad Network Tyroo; Buys Stake Upwards Of 35 Percent

By Content Sutra- Wed 18 Jul 2007

Correction: I’d misquoted Yahoo India MD George Zacharias as stating that this is not an all cash deal (Yahoo is not disclosing the terms of the deal). Apologies for the misquote. Original post (at 12 AM IST): I’m sitting here at a presscon where Yahoo India is going to announce a strategic investment in advertising network Tyroo...so here’s the funny bit - I found out about the press conference yesterday from Rediff PR, who was inundated with calls from reporters who had received an invite that said that Yahoo India is going to announce a strategic investment today. Anyway, the presscon is about to begin, so stay tuned for details. Update: George Zacharias, Yahoo India MD said that the company has acquired upwards of 35 percent (between 35 and 50 percent) in Tyroo Media. Says that Yahoo will act as a catalyst for the advertising industry in India. The investment will enable Tyroo to create a sustainable and growing platform, and the company will be able to leverage Yahoo’s strengths. Harish Bahl, CEO of Smile Interactive, which is incubating Tyroo. They’re looking at the proverbial “long tail”, including advertisers with as small a budget as Rs. 2500. He says that 0.5 Billion impressions go waste daily in India. 50 percent of advertising goes to search, where only 5 percent of user time is being spent, so that balance has to change. Update: the Q&A Q. How much money has been invested? Zacharias: No comments on the figure, but it’s not an all cash deal. Q. Is this more about getting access to Yahoo advertisers? So far you’ve have advertisers from Quasar being directed to Tyroo. (Nikhil) Bahl: We’ll be developing our own advertising clients and publisher network. The market is growing, and it’s about getting advertisers from everywhere on board. Q. How much marketshare does Tyroo have. Given the number of ad networks being launched, is this something like a distress situation to retain marketshare? (Nikhil) Bahl: Tyroo is the largest advertising network in India,and this is not a distress situation. Q. How do you think this investment from Yahoo is going to affect getting publishers like Sify, Rediff and Indiatimes on board at Tyroo, since they are Yahoo competitors? (Nikhil) Bahl: There will be no corporate governance issues - Tyroo and Yahoo will operate independently Q. How does Tyroo fit into the Yahoo mandate? (Nikhil) Zacharias: If you remember, we’ve bought out Right Media, so it’s a part of the overall Yahoo strategy to invest in this space. There is synergy in the sense that the Yahoo sales team might offer advertising inventory to Tyroo, and the Tyroo sales team might reciprocate. Asked about the need for the sale, Bahl said that raising capital was not the objective, since the Smile Group already has an incubation unit. With Yahoo, Tyroo can attract international advertisers, and we might even take Tyroo global. The money will be used for growing the sales team and targeting the SME segment. It will also be used to improve the technology platform. Update: wrt to Kates’ comment on why Yahoo didn’t get Right Media to India, I did ask Zacharias that, but he just said something like Tyroo has the technology and the presence in the market. The other thing is - upwards of 35 percent is a rather large stake—not many companies are willing to divest that much, even though it’s a minority stake...What will be interesting is—how will other players in the market respond? Bear in mind that Interactive Avenues has received funding from Sequoia Capital, and we’ve heard they’re planning an ad network