Venture capital in the Indian software sector may have slowed down to a trickle, but new opportunities await companies, which have synergies in the US.

This is because there is a growing realisation in the US that "no software is possible without India", says Kanwal Rekhi, angel investor and president of The IndUS Entrepreneurs.

"The venture capital industry in India is currently in a state of disarray as people who had invested about a billion dollar before the dotcom bubble burst are yet to recover their money. While things are not much better in the US, last year, around $3.5 billion of VC funding took place," Rekhi says.

"However, one thing has happened. There is a growing realisation that no software is possible without India. VCs, who are really smart investors, may not be too willing to bet on Indian operations alone. But they are more open to investing in companies that have Indo-US operations. A synthesis of the Indian and US markets will help things around here," he adds.

In fact, TiE is not just limiting its focus on Indo-US synergies. It is also including China and Taiwan, which have the same reputation in the hardware sector as India has in the software field, in the loop. Plans are afoot to bring together companies and VCs from all four countries, to cement the "growing entrepreneurial activities" between them.

However, Rekhi is clear India and China cannot compete with each other on their strengths, as China is way ahead of India in hardware, but is way behind in software.

"Software needs creative faculties, which Indians have in abundance, while hardware needs discipline which countries like China, Japan and Germany have. It is probably there in the people of these countries," he added.

Rekhi feels the current state of affairs in the Silicon Valley is quite dull and without much optimism, but feels the wireless broadband could prove to be the next big thing for the region. "Wireless broadband is one of the bright spots in the Valley right now," he said.