Buzzintown.com, a Bangalore-based local entertainment events portal which managed to attract series B funding from Intel Capital recently, is looking at adding new elements to the business. With over 1.4 million users and 10 million page views per month, Buzzintown has reached 19 cities in India. It claims to have an association with around 45,000 stake holders of the entertainment industry comprising event organisers, venue owners and production houses. In a quick chat with VCCircle, Amitabh Saran, co-founder and MD, Buzzintown, said, the fund would help the company to think of plan ‘A’ and plan ‘C’ apart from its core business.
Why is it necessary to have Plan A and Plan C?
When you have enough money and are successfully running one business, it is the right time to start plan A and plan C. If you try something additional, obviously related to your business, you may become profitable in all three ventures at a time. It is easier to try out at this stage when your core business is going profitable in the next quarter or so. If it doesn’t work out, you can always come back to your core business.
How do these plans look like?
Plan A in Buzzintown is to add original video content in addition to text reviews, particularly in the case of restaurants. Plan C is targeting a very niche and untapped entertainment segment in the UK, US and Canada. We are also open to acquisitions in domestic and international market.
Local search is an overcrowded space in India now. How does Buzzintown compete with others?
The clear distinction between Buzzintown and other local search and yellow pages is the static versus dynamic content, created on a daily basis. We are focused only on the entertainment industry with information around event and entertainment. The idea is to promote only live entertainments. We believe competition actually validates a business segment and helps it grow.
What is the potential of the addressable market?
Buzzintown is addressing an industry which is not yet corporatized. The entertainment industry in India is $11 billion today and is slated to be $25 billion by the end of 2012. As disposable incomes increase, people will be looking for more choices. We see lot of potential in small cities. For us, growth in terms of percentage of users is much higher in tier II and III cities than tier I cities.
What is your revenue stream?
Advertisement revenue is one of the main growth drivers. Event ticketing, featured listing and special advertorials also contribute a substantial amount in revenue. We should be profitable in the next two quarters.
