BANGALORE - Norwest Venture Partners (NVP), promoted by angel investor Promod Haque, will invest Rs.200 million (Rs.20 crore) in infrastructure management services firm Appnomic Systems, it was announced here Wednesday.

The venture fund will be invested to expand into the US market and build innovative product and service offerings, the Bangalore-based Appnomic said in a statement.

'The fresh investment will also enable us to strengthen our presence in India, the Middle East and Africa markets,' Appnomic chief executive D. Padmanabhan said.

With the first institutional funding in the IT services firm, NVP managing partner Haque will join the Appnomic board.

'Though the managed services market is a mature industry worldwide, the off-shoring of infrastructure management services (IMS) to India is still in infancy. The market opportunity for IMS in India is estimated to be as large as the application development and management (ADM) sector and is regarded as the 'third wave of outsourcing' (after ADM and BPO/KPO),' Haque pointed out.

The growing pressure on corporations to handle the complex IT requirements demanded by regulators is accelerating the need for simplification and efficient management of IT at a low cost. Hence, 70-75 percent of IMS opportunities can be off-shored.

Appnomic simplifies the complexities of managing IT by offering large and mid-size firms with automated technology, intelligent analysis and process methods and make them 30 percent more efficient in productivity.

'The demand for automated IMS firms is on the rise and the timing of this funding could not have been better as we expand our presence and offerings to address this dynamic market,' Padmanabhan noted.

The 47-year-old NVP focuses on investments in IT Internet, media and consumer. The US-based firm manages about $2.5 billion in venture capital.