Outsourcing money

Avestha Gengraine Technologies Pvt. Ltd. intends to tap into both Indias traditional medicines heritage, and the international contacts of its founder and managing director Villoo Morawala Patell to become a global biotech company. With no indigenous VC community able to back companies at the level that would require, Patell has had little choice but to look beyond Indias borders. The result is a Western-size funding round for a company with an Indian cost structure.

Last week, the company closed a E25 million ($32.5 million) series C round led by Fidelity International, which has picked up a 10% stake for about E10 million ($13 million). Other investors include the French companies Groupe Limagrain (Chappes, France) and Daninvest of Danone (Euronext:BN, Paris, France), along with the Indian media house Bennett, Coleman Co. Ltd. (Mumbai, India). Total foreign investment in Avesthagen is 31%...