Anantara Pioneers Second Generation Outsourcing.

Helion Venture Partners-Led Syndicate Announces Investment of US $6.5 Million

CHENNAI, India -- The global IT services and outsourcing industry is set to undergo a significant paradigm shift with the formation of a radical and innovative company -- Anantara Solutions Private Limited. This new company is a pioneer of Second Generation Outsourcing that combines business consulting services and IT services to deliver unprecedented, measurable business value. Anantara Solutions is founded by G.B.Prabhat, co-founder of Satyam Renaissance Consulting and former Director, Consulting and Enterprise Solutions, Satyam Computer Services Limited, and his management team of eight partners.

The company today also announced the closing of its Series A financing of US $6.5 million from a syndicate led by Helion Venture Partners. Sanjeev Aggarwal, Managing Director, and Ashish Gupta, Managing Director, Helion Ventures Pvt Ltd have already joined the Anantara Board. Helion is the lead investor in Anantara, along with other prestigious investors, including Walden International, SVB Financial Group and Christian Wedell, a former senior Microsoft executive and venture capitalist.

Second Generation Outsourcing (SGO) is an inclusive model that ensures all the benefits of first generation outsourcing. First generation outsourcing is predicated primarily on cost arbitrage, which is now almost eliminated. SGO shifts focus from cost arbitrage to creating business value. SGO is a multi-pronged value proposition, several prongs not dealt with at all in first generation outsourcing. Through this model, Anantara will redefine the provision of consulting and technology services delivery with the clear aim of helping its clients compete better. SGO would also provide for unambiguous returns on both business and technology investments made by its clients.

Anantara also announced the launch of Nextgen Sourcing, its proprietary methodology for helping clients migrate to SGO. Nextgen Sourcing would also focus on the continuous improvement of the SGO model to act as Anantara's vehicle of innovating on the delivery of outsourced consulting and technology services.

G.B.Prabhat, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Anantara Solutions, said, "By pioneering SGO, we at Anantara Solutions are reinventing the offshore delivery model combining the efficiencies of a top-notch consulting firm and a high-quality offshore delivery firm. The investment from Helion Venture Partners and our other investors is a powerful endorsement of our unique value proposition. Our customers worldwide are greeting SGO with enthusiasm."

Anantara's leadership team includes leading industry veterans who pioneered the idea of offshore consulting as an extension of offshore application development and maintenance. The team played a seminal role in building the Consulting and Enterprise Solutions business of a prominent Indian IT giant to a billing of nearly US $200 million in 2007. Over the last decade, team members have built methodologies for offshoring the most sophisticated consulting work and providing value-based pricing. These rare capabilities, which they assiduously built over the last several years, are now being parlayed into pioneering Second Generation Outsourcing (SGO).

Investor Optimism

"Second Generation Outsourcing is fast becoming the need of the hour. We are very pleased to partner with Anantara Solutions, and through this long-term partnership Helion will continue supporting this innovative company and its new business model," said Sanjeev Aggarwal.

Hock Voon Loo, Managing Director, Walden International, said, "This is a very unique investment opportunity as we are backing a first-class team. There is enormous potential in the company's vision of value-based pricing, virtual supply chain and new engagement models. Walden is very pleased to join this financing round and looks forward to working with Anantara Solutions."

"SVB Financial Group is delighted to be part of the investor group at Anantara Solutions. The management team is an accomplished group of individuals who can make the vision and promise of SGO a reality," said Suresh Shanmugham, Senior Vice President -- India, SVB Global, an SVB Financial Group subsidiary.

Added Christian Wedell, "Anantara Solutions is built on a clear vision of the future of the outsourcing industry. The company's focus on bringing world-leading expertise to its customers in a results-oriented and cost-efficient way makes this company highly attractive, for potential clients and investors alike."

Customer Enthusiasm Worldwide

Within a few weeks of inception, Anantara has managed to garner clients from various parts of the world: USA, UK, Germany, France, Hong Kong and India. The company sees its acquisition of customers as a continuous endorsement that clients expect a new order of benefits from the offshoring model.

"Anantara is helping us reduce our intranet maintenance costs by nearly 50%. We are convinced of Anantara Solutions' unique position as a Second Generation Outsourcing company, and its ability to help customers find the best solutions for their business needs," said Mahesh Alimchandani, Technical Coordination Manager, International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities, France.

"Anantara possesses excellent solutions that actually translate into better profits and savings," says S. Venkateswaran, Chief Financial Officer, Mulitex Group Ltd, Hong Kong. Mulitex, a conglomerate, deals in garments, electronics, footwear and sundries. Anantara is developing a workflow-based B-2-B solution to improve the procurement efficiencies of Mulitex.

"Under very tight time constraints, the Anantara team collected and commented on key business data for the Indian logistics market. We appreciate and value the content of the deliberations," said a representative of a leading German business architecting firm for whom Anantara worked on an India strategy for logistics.

Indian industry has also been quick to respond to the potential of SGO.

Mahindra Logistics, the logistics arm of the US $4 billion Mahindra & Mahindra group, has engaged Anantara to design an IT solution fully aligned to its business strategy. Sanjay Sinha, Chief Executive, Mahindra Logistics, said, "Business strategy and technology strategy must converge for our business to be sustainable. We are delighted to be working with Anantara in this partnership mode."

Cooper Foundry Pvt. Ltd is planning a major expansion and diversification drive. "Anantara is helping us craft the business and information technology architecture for our expansion. We are very impressed with the pedigree and experience of the Anantara team," said Farrokh N.Cooper, Chairman and Managing Director, Cooper Foundry.

Anantara is devising the business process strategy for Pricol Ltd., India's leading auto instrument company. Vijay Mohan, Chairman and CEO, Pricol, commented, "Pricol's association with Prabhat goes back more than a decade when his team undertook a tremendously successful BPR exercise that enabled us become more efficient and cost competitive. It will be a pleasure for Pricol to associate with Anantara Solutions."

About Anantara Solutions

For more information about Anantara, please visit www.anantsol.com.

About Helion

Helion Venture Partners is a $140 million multi-stage, India-focused venture fund. For more information on Helion, please visit www.helionvc.com.

About Walden International

Walden International is a leading international venture capital firm with an unrivaled pan-Asia network. For information on Walden, please visit www.waldenintl.com.

About SVB Financial Group

SVB Financial Group is a diversified financial services group headquartered in Santa Clara, California, USA. More information on the company can be found at www.svb.com.

About Christian Wedell

Christian Wedell is a former senior Microsoft executive and a Munich-based venture capitalist.