INDIA INFOLINE – July 18 – Murugavel Janakiraman, Founder and Managing Director, BharatMatrimony (Matrimony.com), revolutionized the process of arranged marriages in India, by providing an online platform for matchmaking through its flagship matchmaking service BharatMatrimony. The company's free registrations have grown from 2.64M in FY16 to 3.21M in FY17. The company has ~702K paid users.
Q: What are the 3 major changes in the marriage services sector in the recent past?
A: The mobile and internet penetration has been growing. Second, an increasing number of Indians are leaving their native places and moving out of India or their own societies in search of a job or a better lifestyle. Also, there has been an increase in the freedom an individual can exercise over life decisions.
Q: What makes you better than your competitors?
A: We cater to the needs of various communities through CommunityMatrimony. We also offer personalised matchmaking through Elite Matrimony and our Assisted Service package.
Q: Tell us about the issue size of the IPO. How will the company use the capital?
A: The offer details are as follows: Primary (Rs. in Millions): 1,300. Offer for Sale (in Equity Shares of face value Rs.5 each): 37,67,254. We will use the Net Proceeds for:
- Advertising and business promotion activities;
- Purchase of land for construction of office premises in Chennai;
- Repayment of our overdraft facilities; and – General corporate purposes.
Q: How big is the marriages service industry in India?
A: It is estimated that in 2016, of the 107M single individuals, there were ~63M individuals who were actively seeking prospective life partners. The marriage services industry is estimated to be worth ~3,7B in fiscal 2016.
Q: What are your plans to ensure sustained monetization?
A: We will be investing in technology to make our sites and apps more user-friendly.
by Priyanka Sharma
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Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team
INC42.COM – Sep 9 – Matrimony has reportedly raised $35.3M (225.9 Cr) in the run up to its IPO. The money was raised by 22.93 lakh shares to anchor investors including Smallcap World Fund, HDFC Trustee Company, Baring Private Equity Asia, BNP Paribas Arbitrage, Goldman Sachs India and DB International (Asia). Anchor investors are typically marquee investors that are invited to subscribe to the company’s shares ahead of its IPO. This reserved subscription is aimed to boost the popularity of the issue. The IPO will be open on September 11 and will close on September 13.
