Manjunatha Bageshpura, Sandesh Nanjundappa, Sridhar Thangavelu and Madhu Hosmane co-founded Kineta two-and-a-half years ago.
Projects underway include IT migration and systems integration-related work for a global bank’s offices in Singapore; the creation of a social network for an American university for deployment within the local neighbourhood; and the development of a new e-commerce portal for a New York-based manufacturer of precision products.
The founders acknowledge that the current global scenario is not very conducive for IT offshoring -- clients in the US and Europe, Kineta’s target markets, continue to adopt a wait-and-watch policy and several projects have been on hold for two maybe three years now. “But we know how to get it (offshoring) done because we (the founders) have worked in this industry for a long time,” said CEO Manjunatha Bageshpura.
Kineta targets small and medium enterprises in the US and the European markets, firms with a revenue of under USD10 million. The company employs 20 people in India and 10 in Singapore.
SupportBiz caught up with Bageshpura and managing partner Sandesh Nanjundappa. Excerpts from the interview:
What are Kineta’s revenues?
We closed the 2011-12 financial year with nearly USD1 million in revenue. This year we expect to double it, because we are seeing better response for our work.
Are you looking at raising funds soon?
Not yet. We think we need to establish a degree of history to get a good valuation. We might have to raise funds in a year’s time, by which time we will need to setup an office in the US to tap new clients. Funds will also be used to hire more people, said Bageshpura.
Why not try your hand at developing products?
Building and selling products requires more money. Kineta is self-funded and at this juncture we do not want to take those risks, said Nanjundappa
Developing products for other markets from India is not easy, and it is hard to sell a product in India, unless proven, said Bageshpura. You have to do what you are comfortable doing. And we think we can handle offshoring better than others, he added.
What is a typical day like for the founders?
It is not like we need to plan everyday. Neither do we have to sell a service everyday. We stick to the larger plan and focus on what we need to do, like calling our industry contacts and talking to them about potential projects for us, said Nanjundappa.
We are always scouting for opportunities. Each opportunity is unique and therefore we need to spend a lot of time on preparing the pitch and building the internal knowledge base, said Bageshpura.
Plans get updated and that necessitates a discussion with the team, added Nanjundappa. We have to align ourselves to changing market dynamics, and then re-align the next day, Bageshpura added.
What keeps you going at the end of day?
It is about the thrill. There is more freedom to implement what you think will work. But that is also a huge responsibility because there is no one above you to tell you what to do, said Bageshpura.
Kineta Systems LLP
Address: 209, 28th Cross, 7th Block, Jayanagar, Bangalore - 560 082
Contact number: +91 80 2663 3422