We target Rs. 60 Cr turnover: CEO Raju VanapalaConsumer focused Internet technology company Way2online Interactive India Private Limited (‘Way2Online’) announced today that it has acquired 160by2, a Person to Person (P2P) Messaging portal based out of Hyderabadwith 13 million registered users. Way2online operates India’s largest P2P messaging portal way2sms.com, which has 23 million registered users. With the acquisition, way2online targets a turnover of Rs. 60 crore during 2012-13.
According to Google’s zeitgeist 2011, Way2sms listed as one of the top ten search words inIndia, besides global brands like Facebook and Youtube.
Mr. Raju Vanapala, Founder & CEO, Way2online, said “We are delighted to acquire 160by2, which is an incredible brand with 13 million registered users’ base. This Acquisition not only broadens Way2online's consumer penetration to 33 million unique Internet users but also gives access to 35% of the total Internet users inIndia. Above all, both the Internet properties way2sms and 160by2 are adding close to a million new users per month. I'm sure that the acquisition paves the way for way2online to become the largest consumer focused internet company inIndiaand our rapid growth may soon take us to be numero uno among the Indian Internet companies."
As part of the deal, Way2online has acquired SMS country's Internet asset 160by2.com, key engineering team and intellectual property associated with 160by2.com. Post-acquisition, 160by2 will continue to grow as an independent unit under the leadership of way2online. There is only 20% of 160by2's user base overlapping with way2sms, which makes the deal valuable for way2online.
Mr. Raju also added "With strong presence in the Indian internet space and the scale we have reached so far, we are excited about our growth over next few years. We will continue to evaluate the Internet landscape to discover vertical defining business models for way2online's growth".
Satya Yerramsetti, CEO, SMSCountry, said "We are confident that 160by2.com, in the safe hands of Mr. Raju and Way2Online, would only add more value to both our users as well as our advertisers".
About Way2online:
Way2online is a highly innovative consumer focused Internet technology company headquartered inHyderabad. Way2online's primary focus is consumer centric Internet business with an aim to delight the world with innovative products and services. Way2online’s unique combination of “Innovation +Technology + word of mouth” approach has helped to connect with millions Internet users across the country.
Launched in Dec 2006, one of Way2online's flagship product way2sms.com has revolutionized person to person messaging in the country. Way2SMS helps users to send free SMS to any mobile in the country. Way2SMS generates nearly 400 million page views every month according to comscore. It has delivered over 10 Billion messages since its inception.
About 160by2:
160by2.com is a leading person to person mobile messaging platform with over 13 million registered users and is growing at the rate of 10000 new users every day. 160by2 was Awarded "Best Telecom Website of the year 2008" by Metrix lab. It is one among the top 100 most visited sites in India in 2010 and 2011, according to alexa.com. 160by2.com generates close to 75 million page views and is reaching over 12 million unique mobiles every month.