The worst decline in history…
Courtesy Paul Kedrosky [ via Bespoke ], this chart that says it all:
Low cost innovation – The “Indian” Way
From last month’s IBEF newsletter:
…Manoj Mondal is the inventor of the crank pedal – he successfully tweaked the pedal of a bicycle to an extent that it generates almost double the torque (force multiplied by the distance from the centre) than in normal circumstances. In other words, the speed of the bicycle increases from, say, 20 km/hr to 40 km/hr.
His feat has already made him the toast of incubators, the green lobby and a host of companies which are coming forward to adapt Mondal’s technology commercially.
Besides, Mondal’s invention is slated to benefit rickshaw-pullers as the Centre for Rural Development has shown keenness to convert 10,000 rickshaws into the crank pedal mode this year…Dr Pradip K Sarmah, executive director of the Centre for Rural Development is banking on the crank pedal “to reduce the drudgery of the 10 million rickshaw-puller of India” . The centre runs a Rickshaw Bank to cater to the urban poor, and already has an improvised rickshaw by IIT-Guwahati, which costs Rs 12,000 a pop with insurance, licence, uniform and the works thrown in. “Mondal’s invention will add speed to the existing force and cost Rs 100 extra,” contends Sarmah.
…Next, he’s working on a prototype where pedalling on a stationary cycle has the potential to dig a bore deep enough to make a drain, and construction major Escorts seems to have shown interest in the new technology, says Mondal…
While this is probably not something that a VC would fund (or that needs VC funding either), it is nevertheless a fine example of low-cost innovation that will make a material difference to the lives of millions (literally)…
Related Posts:
Amidst the global downturn, China continues to amaze…
From an email I received y’day:
According to Zero2IPO Research Center statistics, a total of 29 domestic and foreign VC firms established 40 funds during Q2‘08. This figure represents US$3.02B of capital available for investing in Mainland China marking a record high for a single quarter.
Additionally, 159 Chinese entrepreneurial firms receiving venture capital disclosed investment totaling US$1.20B. In comparison with the same period last year, the number of deals and the disclosed investment amount increased 31.4% and 73.5% respectively.
Keeping up with the “booming…China investment market”, Zero2IPO is organizing its second China VC & PE Event in London next month. Try and be there.
I will be speaking just after the tea break on investment opportunities for European investors in China.
Comparing Indian and Chinese M&A
Some excerpts from a great article comparing Indian and Chinese M&A, “Dancing “Dragon” and Running “Elephant” on the Stage of M&A by Mark He at Zero2IPO Research.
*** Excerpts Begin (emphasis mine) ***
…
India, China and G11
Excerpts from a recent article by Liam Halligan (Chief Economist at Prosperity Capital Management) in The Sunday Telegraph, “China, Brazil and India belong in the G8”
*** Excerpts Begin (emphasis mine) ***
It’s become fashionable to say the G8 is pointless. Last week’s summit of the “world’s advanced industrial democracies” was certainly an anti-climax.
After all the posturing, “working lunches” and “financial stability pacts”, the impotence of the leaders gathered on the Japanese island of Hokkaido was displayed for all to see.
Western shares kept tumbling. Crude hit another record high. As the smell of meltdown turned acrid last week, the markets seemed determined to stress the G8’s irrelevance.
…
Since the mid-1970s, the US, UK, Germany, Italy, Japan, France and Canada have held an annual summit. Russia has recently been added – grudgingly, because four G7 members depend on its oil and gas. Even with Russia, the G8 accounts for only 14 per cent of the world’s population, and less than 60 per cent of the global economy. And that share of worldwide output can only fall as the fast-growing emerging giants continue to outpace the West.
The likes of China, Brazil and India have churned out average annual growth of 5 to 10 per cent for many years now – an expansion rate that’s set to continue. In dollar terms, these countries are now the fourth, 10th and 12th largest economies on earth – and climbing fast.
On local markets etc
An interview by Cherry Zheng from last September (with a nice photograph to boot!):
*** INTERVIEW BEGINS ***
European venture capital firms universally hold a prudent attitude towards the entry into Chinese market. As a result, only a few of them entered China. On the other hand, quite a large number of them, which include Amadeus Capital Partners Limited (”Amadeus”), are always observing the Chinese market actively and forming relationships with local VCs and major corporations
Amadeus invests venture capital in new technologies from offices in London and Cambridge, UK. Since its inception in 1997, Amadeus has backed more than 60 companies in the UK and continental Europe, covering computer hardware and software, mobile and fixed communications technologies and medical technologies. Amadeus manages a total of GBP288 million of assets, raised through five funds including two seed-stage funds.
In his role as Business Development Partner for Asia at Amadeus, Shantanu Bhagwat (”Shantanu”) has 18 years of broad international experience in the broad technology sector, in Europe as well as in Asia, where he once worked in Japan and India. Shantanu has already visited China several times and continues to find opportunities to get familiar with this country and understand the developments even better.
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