Brief

Yahoo and Canaan to partner with BharatMatrimony

Yahoo and Canaan Partners have announced that they would be investing $8.65 million in BharatMatrimony.com. Both investors will be represented on the board of the company.

Interestingly, a recent survey by the Internet & Mobile Association of India has shown that subscribers of online matrimonial Web sites will reach the seven million mark in 2006-07. Online matrimonial services have been experiencing significant growth over the last few years and that is why many Internet companies are partnering with matrimonial portals to attract business.

According to Murugavel Janakiraman, Founder & CEO, BharatMatrimony.com, “Online matrimonial search services have sky-rocketed in the last two years and matrimonial Web sites are continuing on the path of high trajectory growth garnering Rs 58 crore in 2005-06 and expecting to cross Rs 98 crore in 2006-07. There has been a surge in users from four million in 2004-05 to 5.5 million in 2005-06 and is estimated to grow to seven million users by 2006-07.”

Janakiraman believes that this success is fuelled by services provided by pure play Internet companies in the form of offline centres spread across more than 50 cities, where not-so-savvy consumers are aided by executives to subscribe to multiple services as well as search the existing database first hand.

For BharatMatrimony, partnering with Yahoo and Canaan is to sustain its position in the matrimony space. The investment will drive technology, infrastructure, marketing and advertising and expansion in jobs, properties, automobile and classifieds. The growth strategy of the company is to increase the number of BharatMatrimony Centres, the offline initiative, from 38 to over 300 across the country by 2008.

“The global knowledge, partnerships and experience that both these investors bring will help us scale our business globally. The infused capital will be used to sustain our position and enhance our portfolio of services,” added Janakiraman.

Canaan, which has invested in 232 companies and made more than 60 acquisitions so far, has been focussing on the technology and healthcare sectors. In the Yahoo, Canaan, BharatMatrimony venture, the main role of Canaan is to provide domain expertise to the latter.

Alok Mittal, Executive Director, India, Canaan Partners said, “The company is positioned to grow rapidly while continuing to be valuable from a social standpoint. India is one of the key markets for Canaan Partners and we are looking at creating lasting partnerships in the technology space and generating shareholder wealth over the coming years.”

George Zacharias, Managing Director, Yahoo India said, “The Indian Internet market has about 20 million users and the Indian mobile market has 100 million users. We expect these numbers to grow rapidly in the next five years.”

In the past, BharatMatrimony has tied-up with Rediff, Sify, IDBI Bank, and Department of Posts (Government of India).

— Megha Banduni