indiamarkets to expand globally

indiamarkets.com, a business-to-business (B2B) infomediary, is planning to expand globally. At present the company is targeting businesses in the SAARC, East Asian and West Asian countries and South Africa.

Mr. D. Shriram, Vice-President, Sales, said the portal would also offer CRM (customer relationship management) and SCM (supply chain management) solutions in the near future.

Addressing a press conference at Scale 2000, a supply chain and logistics exposition in Bangalore, Mr. Shriram said the company was planning to partner with logistics and CRM companies. Its revenue model was expected to be operational by August.

Mr. K. Ramesh, Vice-President, Brand, said the company has earmarked around $10 millions for a brand-building exercise in India and abroad. It has already started a publicity campaign through the print medium.

The company plans to target the European market by the year-end in the second phase of expansion. If needed, it will consider establishing a direct presence in these countries, he said.

As part of brand-building exercise, the company is planning to set up some 50 industrial "cafes'' where businessmen can access and manage information at various industry clusters throughout the country.

Ms. Nayantara Kamath, Vice-President, said the focus was on catering to the needs of small and medium enterprises. The portal, an aggregation of vertical supplier communities representing over 130 diverse product categories, has a subscriber base of 16,000 and aims to cross the one lakh mark by the year-end, she added.