Capt Gopinath is back again in the market to raise funds for its airline cargo venture Deccan 360. Gopinath had earlier deferred his plans of raising funds due to valuation differences.

Gopinath is looking to raise upto $43 Mn by selling 25% stake in Deccan 360, thus valuing the company at $172 Mn. Gopinath is talking to an European and two US based PE firms for the investment.  The proceeds will to be used to fund the expansion plans of the company. Part of the funds will also be used to fund the operating activities of the company.

Capt Gopinath started Deccan 360 earlier this year with an initial investment of $25 Mn. It started operations in May with a fleet of three Airbus and two ATRs. He was negotiating with IBM Ventures, Intel Capital and Singapore Cargo to raise upto $30 Mn, but the talks fell through due to differences in valuations.

Capt Gopinath is expecting to breakeven in 18 months. He is also expecting to generate $70 Mn in revenues in the first year of operations. Deccan 360 will be operating through a franchise model, it plans to appoint 100 franchises by the year end.

Deccan 360 is competing with established players such as Blue Dart, GATI, First Flight and TNT Express for a share in $625 Mn worth express cargo market, which is expected to grow at 20% over the next five years.

If we talk about other PE deals in this space, Temasek invested $26 Mn in First Flight for a 27.74% stake in 2007.