Shetty in UK move
Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty and her UK-based fiancé Raj Kundra have acquired a 33 per cent stake in Indian restaurant group V8 Gourmet, owner of eateries such as The Bombay Bicycle Club, Tiffinbites and Vama, for £6 million.
V8 is to launch a range of pickles, chutneys and ‘healthy’ Indian ready meals in UK supermarkets next year under the Shilpa Shetty brand. Other business interests of Shetty and Kundra include a stake in cricket team Rajasthan Royals and beauty spa business Iosis.
Epitiro CEO garlanded
Gavin Johns, CEO of telecoms specialist Epitiro, has won the British Venture Capital Association award for best VC-backed chief executive of 2009 in the Wales and South West region. The Cardiff-based company received investment from Finance Wales last year and has since expanded internationally. Other regional winners are Dougie McGilvray of Weldex, Edward Price of Innocore Gaming, Willard Andritz of Kobalt Music, Mike Edelman of Nanoco and Mike Washburn of Scriptswitch.
Iome hires Burke
Digital advertising company Iome has appointed Chris Burke as its new chairman. Burke was formerly CTO of Vodafone UK and CEO (EMEA) of wireless communications specialist RIM. He has also held advisory roles at VantagePoint Venture Partners and business telecoms company Avaya, and continues to advise hardware company HP. Burke will support Iome in its move to launch a service directly to consumers, providing them with information relevant to their physical location.
