Achievers
Books
Business
Calender
Community
Controversy
Cuisine
Eateries
Education
Enterprise
Faith
Good Samaritans
Health
Infotech
Media
Memories
Movies
News Archives
Opinion
Specials
The Arts

Ex-academic rocks London bourse with start-up

Paran Balakrishnan in London

An Indian professor who moved out of academia and launched a software company has become London's newest stock market star worth around 117 million pounds overnight.

The shares of Prof Madan Singh's Knowledge Support Systems shot up by over 60 per cent a few hours after it listed in London.

KSS listed at 220 pence but climbed immediately to 355 pence despite the fact that the market has become jittery about hi-tech stocks in the last few days. The company will immediately become a member of London's technology-focused Techmark Index.

The company has raised 30 million pounds from the flotation and is now valued at around 263 million pounds. "We now have the financial resources to increase our marketing and sales and capitalise on our proven software technology," said Singh soon after the flotation.

Singh's software uses mathematical models to find the optimum price at which goods can be sold without discouraging would-be customers and stopping them from buying. "This is not a dot.com. We have products based on strong technology with global potential," says Singh.

"The company's sales are expected to rise to about 15 million pounds by 2001. Profits should start flowing in two years' time."

Madan Singh developed the price-setting software after working on it for 15 years. Prof Singh still holds a chair at Manchester University's Institute of Science and Technology, which is also a 15 per cent shareholder in KSS.

KSS software has been sold to everyone from petrol retailers to telecom companies. During trials it is said to have boosted profits by up to 10,000 pounds at some petrol stations. Similarly, it improved returns by over 6,000 pounds at pubs. Buyers of KSS software include giant multinationals like Texaco, Shell and Alcatel.

The company now produces six different software packages including BankPrice which is designed for banks and financial houses. Similarly, PubPrice is used by publicans to decide the optimum prices of a glass or beer or whisky. The company has also branched out and makes SpaceOpt which aims to help with the allocation of space for products in supermarkets or convenience stories.

"KSS has reached a stage in its development where it requires greater marketing and sales ability in order to capitalise on its strong market position."

The company was founded in 1993 by Madan Singh and a second academic Jean-Christophe Bennavail to exploit scientific research carried out during a 15-year period.

Madan Singh, 54, holds a PhD from Cambridge and a Doctorate d'Etat from Toulouse. He is a leading expert in systems engineering and what is termed 'decision support technology'. He has also been awarded the Chevalier des Palmes by the French government.

KSS has 45 staffers and it will be growing in the next few months. "Proceeds from the placing will be used to increase marketing and sales as well as finance product development and provide working capital," says Singh.

Asian entrepreneurs have been racing into the hi-tech sector during the last few months. Softtechnet, a venture capital firm backed by film director Shekhar Kapur, was heavily oversubscribed and collected 26 million pounds after a flotation in mid-March.

Similarly, Shami Ahmed who founded 'Joe Bloggs' jeans has also launched a venture capital firm that will invest in hi-tech companies and has listed it on London's Alternative Investment Market. Ahmed is also worth more than 100 million pounds after the flotation.

Previous: 'India has shown it can compete on a world scale'

Next: 'Clinton sought a better relationship with India'

Tell us what you think of this report