Info Edge (India) Ltd, which runs ad portals such as recruitment services site Naukri.com, has made a follow-on investment of $513,588 (Rs 3.43 crore) in Rare Media Company Pvt. Ltd, owner of workforce tracker Blue Dolphin.
The investment comes two years after Info Edge first invested $1.1 million (Rs 7.4 crore) in the software developer to support its online realty business, 99acres. The portal, which offers listing of properties for sale, purchase, and rent, was already using Rare Media’s mobile-based products for data verification of its sales force even before the investment.
Reflecting on first investment, Rare Media founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani had then said, “It is not a regular financial investment where we look to exit in a few years. Given the 99acres link, we want Rare Media to be financially stable. We want to have influence on this company so that they can align their products with 99acres’ needs.â€
After the follow-on investment, Info Edge now owns 43.86% holding in Rare Media, it said in a stock-exchange filing.
Founded in 2012 by Siddhartha Gupta, Delhi-based Rare Media’s Blue Dolphin is used for employee location tracking and timekeeping. Blue Dolphin’s employee attendance platform is based on the Internet of Things.
Blue Dolphin’s clientele spans healthcare, online real estate, auditing, outdoor advertising, and more. Philips, Club Mahindra, HCL, WHSmith are some of its clients, besides Info Edge.
Blue Dolphin’s backer Info Edge operates as an online classifieds company in the areas of recruitment, matrimony, real estate, education, and related services in India and internationally. The company offers recruitment services through Naukri.com, an online job website for seekers and corporate customers. It also provides 99acres.com, which offers listing of properties for sale, purchase, and rent; and Jeevansathi.com, a site for matrimony services. In addition, the company offers Shiksha.com, an education classifieds website. Further, it operates an online food guide portal, Zomato. The company was incorporated in 1995 and is based in Noida.
Info Edge and its investments
The online classifieds company invested Rs 3 crore ($460,000) in business-to-business footwear marketplace ShoeKonnect for a 20% stake last month.
In December 2017, Info Edge invested in Hyderabad-based International Educational Gateway Pvt. Ltd, an education services startup that operates under the Univariety brand.
In November last year, Info Edge increased its stake in Delhi-based lifestyle products company Happily Unmarried Marketing to 47.2%.
In September, it increased its stake in Bengaluru-based online photography startup Canvera Digital Technologies by investing Rs 8.6 crore.
On the financials front, Info Edge posted a net revenue of Rs 228 crore for the third quarter of 2017-18, a 22% increase over a year ago.
For the quarter, net profit grew 13% year after year to Rs 53.35 crore.
Revenue from Info Edge’s recruitment portal Naukri.com grew to Rs 169 crore for the quarter from Rs 140.43 crore a year ago.