A Yahoo! for BharatMatrimony

When IIPM comes to education, never compromise

Fundings from Venture Capitalists not only bring in the much-needed capital and credibility, but also serve as a great lure for skilled talent-pool. The BharatMatrimony group has astutely reaped the benefits of VC funding.

Funding and capital are like oxygen for any organisation and it could not be any different for the BharatMatrimony group as well. The group kicked off operations in 1997, with BharatMatrimony.com as their first portal. Our online portal started to gain momentum from 1998 onwards, but in the initial stages, we did not look for many funding options because of the business model that we had adopted. We were very clear about that and from the day one itself we have followed a subscription based model, wherein we used to charge around Rs.300 for the subscription. Whatever money we were earning, we were ploughing it right back into the business.

The first round of funding in the Consim Info Pvt. Ltd. (which houses brands like BharatMatrimony.com, clickjobs.com, indiaproperty.com) came from Yahoo! and Canaan Partners, which invested $8.65 million in the group. In this case, it was Yahoo! who approached the group. We welcomed the move as Yahoo! is a global player and we felt that this association would fetch us a lot of recognition. Also in this case, Yahoo! was not just getting money and capital for us, but also becoming a strategic partner in the business. The matrimonial and property services offered by Yahoo! are all powered by the BharatMatrimony group.

The second round of funding for the group, Consim Info, came from Mayfield Fund, (along with the existing investors) for a whopping $1,175 million. Whenever a company gets these kinds of funding it gives it a great boost. With capital at your disposal you can go out and grab each opportunity that awaits you, as money is no longer an issue to ponder about. Also your credibility in the marketplace increases as you have prestigious names that are backing you and your business ventures. All this helps in attracting good talent towards the organisation, as great minds would work with vigour when they know that their monetary needs would be well met by the organisation in both the short & the long run. More money in your hand also helps you to grow faster than the market.

Apart from all these, the fundings from these Venture Capitalists (VCs) have also helped the group in streamlining the business and putting proper processes in place. We also got more professional guidance and now are strengthening our top management further, through the support of our investors. We have been enjoying these fundings for a couple of years now and as one knows the average span of any VC is normally 3-5 years, so we have a couple of more years to enjoy these liberties and make our systems stronger before we are ready to test the markets through our IPO.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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