INDIA BUSINESS WORLD - JANUARY 16^th - JANUARY 31^st - 2008

MATRIX PARTNERS INDIA INVESTS $10 M IN BRAND MARKETING

Matrix Partners India has invested $10 million as the sole investor in the first round of funding of Brand Marketing India (BMI), a leading foreign brand marketer. BMI has relationships with Gucci, Calvin Klein, French Connection, Jimmy Choo and several other leading foreign brands, a company release said. "BMI is our first growth capital investment, consistent with the strategy articulated with our fund expansion recently," Matrix India's co-founder and managing director Rishi Navani said. "We believe there is a large market opportunity for foreign brands in India and the seasoned senior management team at BMI has strong domain expertise to capitalise on this opportunity," Mr. Navani said.