iYogi, a Direct-to-Consumer and Small Business Technical Support Provider, Paves the Way for Personal Offshoring to Become India's Next Success Story NEW YORK, July 24
NEW YORK, July 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Personal Offshoring, which is driving
the next wave of India's outsourcing success story, got a huge boost today
when iYogi -- a remote technical support provider from India -- raised
$9.5 million in Series B financing from SAP Ventures, a division of SAP AG,
Canaan Partners and SVB India Capital Partners, a venture fund affiliate of
Silicon Valley Bank.
iYogi (www.iyogi.net) delivers technical support services directly to
consumers and small businesses and is the first, global, technical support
brand based out of India. The company offers its customers an unlimited,
annual service subscription for $119.99 per desktop that includes support for
a wide range of technologies, including PC hardware Microsoft Windows
operating system operating systems, software applications, peripherals and
multifunctional devices.
"Personal Offshoring has created new investment opportunities in India
with incredible growth potential," said Doug Higgins, partner at SAP Ventures.
"It is very exciting to see companies like iYogi challenging the traditional
enterprise-focused offshore-service delivery model by creating a
consumer-focused, direct-to-customer personal offshore model. iYogi is one of
the fastest-growing companies in this market segment, and we look forward to
working with them to create India's next success story."
"Our focus on the customer experience has helped us achieve a 93 percent
satisfaction rate across more than 50,000 customers," said Uday Challu, CEO of
iYogi. "We are delighted to have the support of three terrific investors as we
increase our market share and continue to provide the best technical support
experience possible for our customers."
iYogi will use the funds to fuel its expansion into 12 new regions,
including the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, and to increase
its delivery of new services including PC recovery, anti-virus/spyware, data
back-up and PC optimization.
"As consumer technologies grow in sophistication, consumers will be
seeking the kind of home IT support services -- including remote services
offered by companies such as iYogi -- to help them solve their most complex
problems," said Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst, Parks
Associates. "In primary research, we found more than one-third of consumers
are willing to pay for competent and professional remote support services, and
60 percent express a strong interest in software solutions -- what we refer to
as 'PC Dashboards' -- that automate many basic PC performance enhancement and
troubleshooting features, solving many PC-related problems before they even
are noticed by end-users."
iYogi had previously raised $3.1 million in Series A financing from Canaan
Partners and SVB in April of last year. "iYogi is one of the most promising
investments for Canaan Partners," said Alok Mittal, managing director of India
at Canaan Partners. "Third-party, vendor-independent technical support is an
exciting new service category, witnessing explosive growth. Customers are
looking beyond the traditional vendor-provided support to remote channels for
better problem resolution, faster service, and greater overall satisfaction.
iYogi has created an incredible value proposition and price offering for its
customers that is hard to beat."
"Several next generation outsourcing companies from India are delivering a
range of personal offshoring services for individuals and small businesses in
the U.S. including online tutoring, tax preparation, remote executive
assistance and research services," said Suresh Shanmugham, managing director
of SVB India Capital Partners, a venture fund affiliate of Silicon Valley
Bank. "iYogi has leveraged the technical skills available in India along with
process expertise to scale as a global technical support provider for millions
faced with increasingly complex technology."
About SAP Ventures
SAP Ventures invests in innovative and disruptive software and services
companies globally. We pursue opportunities across all stages for outstanding
financial return. Our goal is to bring substantial benefit to all parties by
facilitating interaction between portfolio companies and SAP and its ecosystem
of customers and partners. SAP Ventures has a successful track record of
building industry-leading companies by partnering with outstanding
entrepreneurs and top-tier venture capital firms since 1996. For more
information, visit www.sapventures.com.
About Canaan Partners
Canaan Partners is a global venture capital firm specializing in
early-stage information technology and life sciences companies. Founded in
1987, Canaan Partners has $2.4 billion capital under management and has
invested in more than 240 companies, completed 63 mergers and acquisitions,
and brought over 50 companies public. The firm catalyzes the development of
innovative mobile, Internet, CleanTech, networking, semiconductor, enterprise
software and services, biotechnology and medical technologies to build
next-generation market leaders. Canaan was an early investor in Acme Packet
(APKT), Aperto Networks, BharatMatrimony.com, Blurb, DoubleClick (DCLK), ID
Analytics, Match.com and SuccessFactors, along with dozens of other
market-leading companies. Canaan is headquartered in Menlo Park, California
and also has offices in Connecticut, India and Israel. For more information
visit www.canaan.com.
SVB India Capital Partners Fund and Silicon Valley Bank
SVB India Capital Partners Fund is a $54 million equity fund that is
focused on Indian companies and co-invests across industries and stages with
top-tier venture capital firms. Silicon Valley Bank is the premier commercial
bank for emerging, growth and mature companies in the technology, life
science, private equity and premium wine industries. Founded in 1983 and
headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., the company serves clients around the
world through 27 U.S. offices and five international operations. Silicon
Valley Bank is a member of global financial services firm SVB Financial Group,
with SVB Analytics, SVB Capital, SVB Global and SVB Private Client Services.
More information on the company can be found at www.svb.com.
About iYogi
iYogi is the first direct-to-consumer and small business technical support
service from India. Providing an annual unlimited subscription to technical
support for $119.99 per year, iYogi now boasts more than 50,000 customers. The
company employs 450 professionals servicing customers in the U.S., U.K. and
Canada, and is fast expanding to 12 new geographies across the globe. iYogi's
resolution rate of 87 percent and customer satisfaction rate of 93 percent are
amongst the highest published benchmarks in the industry. For further
information, please visit www.iyogi.net.
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Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
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The information contained herein is subject to change without notice.
iYogi shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions
contained herein. 7/2008
SOURCE iYogi
