The Hindu Business Line : PortWise to seek funding for global expansion

Already a leading player in the secure socket layer virtual private network market in Europe, PortWise is now looking at the Asia Pacific market to achieve substantial growth, a senior company official told Business Line.

As part of its growth strategy, India would be the company hub to service markets such as Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the APAC region. "We are currently looking out for an India head and as a company growing quite quickly, almost cent per cent growth every year" said Mr Kaushik Thakkar, Co-Founder and VP-Strategic Development, PortWise.

Having received seed capital of £ 8 million from British firm, Cazenove Private Equity and Norwegian firm, Four Seasons Venture last year, the company's seed capital is now in excess of £10 million. While the initial funding was utilised to expand its footprint in the European market, PortWise would embark on its APAC strategy once the India head is recruited, added MrThakkar.

India's importance is visible in the company's long-term business gambit since PortWise proposes to set up a global support centre for the SSL VPN provider's product portfolio. Investment is likely to be between $2-3 million. Besides this, "we are seeking tie-ups with CDMA handset vendors as well as Indian service providers given the tremendous opportunity offered by CDMA here," the PortWise Co-Founder said.

Other areas that will be aggressively pursued include the banking and financial verticals, defence sector and service providers. The construction and airline industries also present good opportunities for the company with "PortWise being in final stages of talks with several firms in the construction industry," he said.