Gurgaon-based consumer electronics company has bought a significant minority stake in an India analytics startup as it aims to transform into a services company from just a mobile phone vendor, reported Economics Times.
Micromax however didn't provide full details of deal such as name the company in which it bought the stake, financial terms of the deal or its acquisition targets. It is also reported apart from this anonymous Indian startup in which Micromax has invested the company is also investing in a Silicon Valley-based startup that operates in the online price comparison space but again the name of the startup has not been disclosed.
Micromax is keen to invest between $0.5 million and $20 million in a startup that can be an early-stage venture, a matured one or something in between. It is looking for a stake between 5% and 26%; the higher range will give voting rights and board membership.
Micromax started as an IT software company in 2000 and worked on embedded platforms. It entered the mobile handset business, and became one of the largest Indian domestic mobile handsets company operating in low cost feature phone segments by 2010. As of Q3 2014, Micromax is the tenth largest Smartphone vendor in the world and giving a stiff competition to Samsung in Indian market for No.1 spot.
Investing in startups is the logical next step for Micromax, which has an 18% market share in India, to differentiate itself in the crowded and fastest growing smartphone market of the world.
Micromax has set up a five-member merger & acquisition team headed by Kumar Shah and the team is evaluating and talking to multiple startups in India, Asia, Europe and the Silicon Valley, in areas of healthcare, gaming and entertainment besides analytics and comparison shopping.
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