Paytm buys majority stake in Insider.in for Rs. 35 crore
Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led Paytm has now acquired a majority stake in Insider.in for a little over Rs. 35 crore. Insider.in is a Mumbai-based online ticketing and events platform and is backed by event management company, Only Much Louder (OML). However, there won't be any major changes in the top-tier. Insider.in founder, Shreyas Srinivasan will remain at the helm. Here's all about it.
Insider events on Paytm
Vijay and Ajay Nair, who run OML, the ticketing platform behind the annual music festival Bacardi NH7 Weekender and TV series The Dewarists, will remain stakeholders and advisory board members. Vijay Nair said that events listed on Insider will become accessible on Paytm's platform. The aim will be to reach the next 100 million Indians that are coming online and interested in cultural events.
How's Insider doing?
Founder and CEO of Insider.in, Shreyas Srinivasan said that the Paytm acquisition gave their firm both credibility and massive reach which is essential for growth. Srinivasan said, Insider.in has upped its number of events and experiences five-fold to 4,000 events in 2016 and saw 1.1 million monthly active users between October 2016 and March 2017. Around 30-40% of its users are repeat customers.
What is the market like?
India's organized events industry's estimated worth is Rs. 4,000 crore. However, online ticketing currently accounts for only 10% of the overall ticket sales. Paytm CFO Madhur Deora said that digital discovery and events marketing expertise would boost the supply of quality events. Since Paytm wants to be "India's go-to destination for online movies and events," this acquisition was a natural extension, added Deora.
Paytm's acquisitions and investments
Paytm, backed by SoftBank and Alibaba Group, has several acquisitions in its portfolio. This includes online-to-offline shopping start-up Shopsity, Gurgaon-based services marketplace Near.in for $2 million, Delhi-based consumer behavior prediction platform Shifu for $8 million and it also acqui-hired e-learning marketplace EduKart for an undisclosed amount. Paytm also led a $10-million funding round in auto-rickshaw service aggregator and hyperlocal delivery firm Jugnoo in 2015.
