Technical support services firm plans to grab 15% of market.
Bureau Report
BANGALORE: Venture capital-funded technical support services company iYogi has turned its attention to India after tasting initial success in the United States and is targeting to grab at least 15% of the local market for support services.
The Gurgaon-based company, founded by Uday Challu and Vishal Dhar in 2007, offers remote and on-the-ground technical support for desktops and laptop computers, tablets, smartphones, besides commonly used devices such as printers, TVs, home theatre system and even MP3 players, reported The Economic Times.
“So far, we consciously stayed away from India because we wanted the market and our company to mature, but now we feel the time has come,” said Challu, who is also the chief executive officer. “Here, however, we will flip our model to target small and medium businesses rather than home users like we did in the US.”
Based on market research, the company estimates the addressable market opportunity in India for technical support services at about Rs. 10,000 crore and it is aiming for at least a 15% share of that market. Unlike typical technical support service providers, iYogi has a proprietary technology platform, which helps it do troubleshooting remotely, said Times.
With about a little under $100 million (Rs 540 crore) in sales, Challu said that iYogi is profitable and generating enough cash to fund its operations. So far, the company has raised $72 million in funding from venture capital firms including Sequoia, Canaan Partners, SVB Capital Partners, SAP Ventures and Draper Fisher Jurvetson.
“This is a highly competitive market to operate within,” said Swati Sasmal, vicepresident at AMI Partners, a technology market researcher, reported Times. “The Indian small and medium businesses community is highly scattered geographically and hence it is imperative for any player targeting this segment to have a well-regulated channel partner network.”