Info Edge sets up alternative investment fund to invest in tech
The Info Edge Venture Fund will invest in tech and tech-enabled entities that provide technology to create, market, and distribute innovative products and services that benefit consumers.
Info Edge, which own companies like Naukri and Jeevansathi, has announced in its stock exchange filings that it has set up an "alternative investment fund" named Info Edge Venture Fund (IEVF) to invest in tech and tech-enabled entities that provide technology to create, market, and distribute innovative products and services that benefit consumers at large.
The company said in its filings that IEVF is registered with SEBI as a Category II Alternative Investment Fund, and that the company has entered into a "contribution agreement to invest about Rs 100 Crore in IE Venture Fund I, a scheme of aforesaid IEVF", it added.
Started in the early days of the internet in India in 1997, Noida-based Info Edge, which runs Naukri.com, JeevanSathi.com, , and Shiksha.com, is one of the pioneers in the dot-com business.
Over the years, Info Edge has actively invested in startups such as , Happily Unmarried, and others. It continues to actively scout for more startups to invest in as early-stage investors, “being most likely to cut the first or second cheque”.
"We go more by the quality and strength of the managing team than anything else. It should ideally be India-specific, but nothing is cast in stone,” Hitesh Oberoi, MD and CEO of Info Edge told YourStory recently. In fact, it has a dedicated corporate development team that looks for companies to invest in or acquire.
Info Edge (India) recently reported a wider net loss of Rs 111.8 crore for the September 2019 quarter (Q2 FY20).The company's net loss stood at Rs 40.7 crore in the year-ago period. However, its revenue from operations rose 17.6 percent to Rs 329.5 crore in the quarter under review from Rs 280 crore in the September 2018 quarter, it added. Recruitment solutions and property portal 99acres contributed Rs 231.1 crore and Rs 57 crore, respectively, to the revenue. The company's billing at Rs 300.5 crore was up by 15.3 percent over the corresponding quarter in FY 2018-19.
"We continue to witness strong quarterly operational performance in terms of billing, revenue, total income, and operating EBITDA growth, which are in high teens on year-on-year basis, supported by 99acres, which grew over 20 percent in terms of billing and revenue during the quarter on year-on-year basis," Info Edge (India) Chief Financial Officer Chintan Thakkar said.
He added that the company continued to leverage its strong cash-surplus position to invest in technology and branding.
(Edited by Teja Lele Desai)
