Naukri.com parent Info Edge to snap up VC-backed iimjobs.com

By TEAM VCC

  • 28 May 2019
Credit: Thinkstock

Info Edge (India) Ltd, the operator of jobs site Naukri.com and real estate portal 99acres.com, has agreed to acquire the company behind jobs portal iimjobs.com.

Mumbai-listed Info Edge said in a stock-exchange filing it will buy Highorbit Careers Pvt. Ltd for Rs 80.82 crore ($11.6 million) in cash. 

The transaction is subject to fulfilment of certain prescribed conditions precedent and other terms and conditions, the company said. The deal is likely to be closed by June 30.

Info Edge said the proposed acquisition will help it consolidate its position in the online recruitment solutions segment where Naukri.com already has a leadership position.

Delhi-based iimjobs.com is focussed on middle- to senior-level hiring in fields such as finance, consulting, business process outsourcing, technology, and sales and marketing.

Highorbit was started by Tarun Matta in 2008 as a side project while he was still working with RockeTalk, a multi-platform mobile app. He left RockeTalk in 2010 to focus on the portal full time. An IIM Indore alumnus, Matta previously worked with Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies, CSC, Neilsoft Ltd and ITC Infotech.

The company had raised an undisclosed amount in angel funding from One97 Communications, India Venture Partners, Shailesh Vickram Singh, Pallav Nadhani, Abhishek Rungta, Anand Lunia, Sachin Garg and others in March 2012.

In November 2016, iimjobs.com secured $2 million (Rs 13 crore then) in its Series A round of funding led by early-stage investment firm India Quotient. Tracxn Labs and Calcutta Angels also participated in this round.

For the year through March 2019, iimjobs.com posted revenue of Rs 16.6 crore. That's up from Rs 13.7 crore and Rs 10.3 crore for 2017-18 and 2016-17, according to Info Edge's filing.

Info Edge is an active investor in tech startups and runs a number of consumer internet ventures itself. These include, apart from Naukri and 99acres, matrimonial website Jeevansathi and education services portal Shiksha. 

Besides, it holds stakes in several technology firms such as restaurant search platform and food delivery firm Zomato, coupons site Mydala, online insurance aggregator PolicyBazaar and e-learning firm Meritnation.

Last month, it invested additional money in online business-to-business footwear marketplace ShoeKonnect and agri-tech startup Gramophone.

Other companies in Info Edge's portfolio include medical healthcare records platform MedCords, Delhi-based lifestyle products company Happily Unmarried Marketing Pvt. Ltd, retail printing chain Printo, business-to-business platform ShopKirana and Hyderabad-based International Educational Gateway Pvt. Ltd, an education services startup that operates under the Univariety brand.