Singapore parent pumps Rs 65 Cr into ibibo Group

The fund infusion comes at a time when group entities MakeMyTrip and Goibibo have been spending significantly on customer inducement and acquisition.

Ibibo Group Private Limited, which operates travel properties like Goibibo, redBus, YourBus (a vehicle tracking application), and others, secured a fund infusion of Rs 65 crore from its Singapore-based parent entity ibibo Group Holdings (Singapore) Pte. ltd, recent filings with Registrar of Companies (RoC) showed. Since the beginning of this calendar year, it has infused more than Rs 161 crore into its India subsidiary.

The fund infusion comes at a time when group entities MakeMyTrip and Goibibo have been spending significantly on customer inducement and acquisition. While Goibibo roped in Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone as its brand ambassador in 2017, MakeMyTrip brought in actors Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh and Diana Penty for its high-decibel multi-TVC campaign. Recently, Goibibo announced the launch of a campaign featuring Padukone and the Mumbai Indians franchise's team members. The new promotion will encourage users to download the app and keep it open during the Mumbai Indians matches and earn goCash, a company statement said.

Ibibo was founded by Ashish Kashyap, who built Goibibo, sold PayU and acquired redBus within a decade of his entrepreneurial journey. Last year, MakeMyTrip merged with ibibo Group. Post-merger, the companies have decided to retain MakeMyTrip, Goibibo and redBus as independent entities.

The online travel market in the country has been rapidly expanding with the rise in the number of internet and smartphone users. However, online booking is yet to penetrate deep into the population, especially in smaller cities and towns, and this situation is leading global investors to pump in millions of dollars into Indian travel companies.

Recently, MakeMyTrip's listing in Nasdaq revealed a revenue of $172.5 million in the quarter ended December 31, 2017, an increase of 39.9 percent over revenue of $123.2 million in the quarter ended December 31, 2016. The company also stated that its personnel expenses increased by 97 percent to $26.9 million in the quarter ended December 31, 2017, from $13.7 million in the quarter ended December 31, 2016, mainly on account of consolidation of ibibo Group.