In 2005, the leading UK think tank, Demos began an 18-month study of science and innovation in China, India and South Korea to understand how the emergence of ideas & innovation in unexpected places is altering the global landscape of science and technology.
As they say on their website,
“We used to know where new scientific ideas would come from: the top universities and research laboratories of large companies based in Europe and the US. While production was dispersed among global networks of suppliers, it was assumed that more knowledge-intensive tasks would stay at home.
All that is changing fast…
Since 1999, China’s spending on R&D has increased by more than 20 per cent each year. India now produces 260,000 engineers a year and its number of engineering colleges is due to double to 1,000 by 2010…
…These shifts in global knowledge production are likely to be every bit as significant as the shifts in manufacturing that occurred in the 1970s and early 1980s. The big question is how we should respond. Some view Asia’s growing scientific strengths with alarm, fearing it will mean the loss of highly-skilled jobs in Europe and the US. But innovation is not a zero-sum game: more in Asia does not mean less in Europe or the US.”
The “Atlas of Ideas” was conceived as a project to delve deeper into these issues and understand the implications for Europe and US.
The final report will be launched at a conference on 17th/ 18th January in London where these issues will be debated and discussed in more depth by a wide range of experts. I am really looking forward to the proceedings and the final reports.
January 8th, 2007
Posted by
Shantanu |
China, Conferences and Panels, Global Competition, Globalization, India |
2 comments
We managed to pull it off!
Phenomenal event yesterday. 100+ attendees and some great insights and experiences that were shared by the speakers. I am in the process of putting up the slides on the server (hopefully before end of tomorrow).
We had Richard Laing, Chief Executive of the CDC Group speaking from an LP perspective on opportunities and challenges in PE/VC in India. Harpal Singh Randhawa, CEO of GEM reflected on his experience of investing in India over the last 15 years and Jonathan Blake, Senior Partner at SJ Berwin addressed some of the structural issues around setting up an India fund.
Earlier, I set the backdrop to the evening with a few slides (here:India – At Inflection Point) on how the country is at an inflection point.
All in all, a fitting start to the formal launch of the India Venture Capital Interest Group (India VCIG) and hopefully we will be able to maintain the high standard of the event and build on the momentum that has been generated.
.
P.S. My pick of the quotes:
“The only antidote to poverty is the generation of wealth”.
November 7th, 2006
Posted by
Shantanu |
Conferences and Panels, India, My Presentations, Venture Capital in Asia |
3 comments
Javier Loizaga, EVCA Chairman inaugurated the conference this morning reminding everyone that a record amount had been raised by European VCs in ’05 – the highest ever if we ignore the “irrational” years of ’99-’00.Paul Deninger, Vice Chairman, Jefferies & Company, Inc. Chairman, Jefferies Broadview made a Presentation on current state of technology finance titled, Is this the European decade?” some salient points:
NASDAQ is still the foundation of how people “feel” about the technology market
- Amount of activity is not even close to IPO activity pre-bubble (on NASDAQ)
- By contrast, European markets showing strong activity (AIM as well as EuroNext)
- But in terms of “quality deals ” (raise > $20m), NASDAQ has sustained its lead over Europe
- Only one of the Top 10 Global IPOs last year was done in NY (compared to 4 of the top 10 in 2000 in US; of which 2 were non-US) – SOX to blame?
- Liquidity on AIM for market caps of £50-70m is comparable to NASDAQ (this is stunning news…)
- Tech M& A has been flat since 2001 in US but Europe is looking better (better than every year in fact except ’99 – 00 and in terms of amount/value better than every year except 2000)
- The mood in Europe is in the right direction
- Likely exit path for US backed companies has moved decisively in favour of M&A
Keep Reading…
October 12th, 2006
Posted by
Shantanu |
China, Conferences and Panels, Europe and Asia, Globalization, India, Venture Capital in Europe |
no comments
Louis Turner of Asia Pacific Technology Network co-hosted a seminar with Chatham House last week on ““The Venture Capital scene in India and China“.
I was on the panel with Matt Rothman, Managing Partner of Hemisphere Capital, Sumit K Majumdar, Professor of Technology Strategy, University of Texas at Dallas and William Gillespie, Director and International Counsel, Tiger Capital Partners.
I shared some slides (here: APTN India China slides) at the beginning of the session focusing on Investments in India and highlighting the key differences between India and China.
Some of the points that came up during the discussion were:
- A direct comparison between India and China does not make much sense as India is probably a decade behind China (see e.g. this chart from IBEF )
- In China, there are now signs of IP-based investments happening (see e.g. Verisilicon)
- In India, this is yet to happen and most of the money is still going into private equity deals and PIPEs
- Exit environment and clarity on regulatory issues are two of India’s strong points
- However, in both these economies, seed-stage funding is almost non-existent
The funding gap at seed-stage is something I worry about a lot. It is not just a matter of financial resources either – there is a dire need for mentoring skills, advice and experienced managers who know how to scale businesses and expand across geographies. In India, an effort has been made in this direction by the Band of Angels. This is welcome but probably not enough.
We are yet to see experienced managers from large enterprises or those who have worked in start-ups/tech companies abroad making the transition to start-ups in India. Hopefully the situation will change before long.
I am not personally aware of any angel network in China but I am almost certain that it exists – at least at an informal level. In the next few months, I will try and find out more about this.
September 26th, 2006
Posted by
Shantanu |
China, Conferences and Panels, India, My Presentations, Venture Capital in Asia |
no comments
My take on “Life as a VC” circa early ’00s: Life as a VC.
Originally prepared for a class at London Business School in 2002.
Have a look to get a sense of what it was like “back then, in the good ol’ days” – some of the points still resonate…and while at it, you may find this list of 10 pointers to an investment bubble entertaining.
September 6th, 2006
Posted by
Shantanu |
Conferences and Panels, My Presentations, Venture Capital, What VCs really do |
no comments
Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to discuss some new ideas in “payments” with a small, bright team from Amex.
Here are the slides I used as a backdrop to the discussion:
August 11th, 2006
Posted by
Shantanu |
Conferences and Panels, My Presentations |
no comments
