Offices in Dubai and Melbourne are planned in the near future. The software outfit operates in niche technologies such as e-commerce, multimedia, communication software, supply chain management, customer relationship management, CAD/CAM mapping, etc. The company has recently entered into a 50:50 joint venture (JV) with Daywalker Studios Gmbh, Germany and floated Shapre Daywalker Studio Ltd. This entity will focus on producing various projects in the animation and virtual reality games segment. In order to tap the opportunities in the Internet advertising space, Shapre has formed a 50:50 JV company with eAdvant, UK. This JV company, Shapre eAdvant Ltd will focus on Internet advertising, market research, etc.

The company currently employs 120 professionals and plans to ramp up its staff strength to 500 professional by March 2001. It targets a revenue of Rs 18 crore by December 2000 and Rs 110 crore by March 2002. For the quarter ended September 2000, the company posted net sales of Rs 7.19 crore and net profit of Rs 2.64 crore. The software outfit does have additional funding requirements to fuel its ambitious growth plans. It is exploring various alternatives to raise resources, said Mr Sharma. Shapre began operations in November 1996. It undertook a reverse merger with DC Kothari Exports Ltd during January this year and got itself listed on the stock exchanges. It raised Rs 17 crore during the early part of this year by placing its equity at par with high net worth individuals and overseas corporate bodies.