Crayon Group of Norway, which handles software licensing for global players such as Microsoft, VMware, and Oracle, has entered India by acquiring Chennai-based Kryptos Networks.

Having taken 80 per cent in Kryptos in an all-cash deal amounting to ₹24 crore, Crayon will increase the number of employees at Kryptos five-fold by year-end to employ the Indian unit as its back-office for servicing global clientele. Currently, 22 people are employed in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Bangalore. The footprint will be expanded to three more cities soon.

Crayon will invest about $12 million in Indian operations in the next two years, the Norwegian company’s co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Jens Rugseth told reporters here. “Globally, licensing is getting complicated with the adoption of cloud services. The world is moving towards mobile technology, leading software makers to produce specialised products for mobile. This is a great driver for our business.”

Kryptos Networks, founded by first-generation entrepreneur Prasanna Ram in 2007, has been a strong player in subscription licensing, a payment model similar to the post-paid mobile connection. Prasanna Ram said:“Software was once bought outright. But with this subscription model, it became accessible to smaller service providers because the outgo is based on the usage, and that’s how our business grew.”

The company posted revenues of ₹42.6 crore in 2013-14. Its clientele include Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, HCL, and other companies in the software industry.

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