Times Internet
 | |
| Founded | 1999 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Gurgaon, India |
| Key people |
Satyan Gajwani, Vice Chairman Gautam Sinha, CEO |
| Industry | Internet services |
| Website |
www |
Times Internet is an Indian company that owns, operates and invests in various Internet-led products, services and technology. It is the digital arm of the Times Group, the largest media conglomerate in India.[1]
Times Internet currently owns and operates 39+ digital products across news, sports, music, video, trivia, spirituality & a suite of transaction-led market-places across real estate, personal finance, education, jobs, table reservation etc.
Through its venture capital arm TLabs, Time Internet has invested in over 50 start-ups in the technology space such as logistics provider Delhivery, bus aggregating platform Shuttl, ed-tech platform Bjyu's, e-pharmacy app Myra among others. Through another subsidiary Times Bridge, it has partnered with global brands like Uber, Airbnb, The Weather Company etc. to build their presence in India.
Times Internet reaches over 270 million monthly unique visitors who collectively spend over 10 billion minutes across all its products and services.[2]
History
1999 - 2012: Initial years
In its initial years, Times Internet primarily focused on digital media - handling the online versions of the Times Group’s major print publications - Times of India, Economic Times, Navbharat Times etc.[3]
Times Internet ventured into multiple new categories with mixed success. It entered social networking and e-commerce with Indiatimes but was unable to scale the business.[4] The company achieved success with MagicBricks, an online real estate platform launched in 2006 and iDiva, a women's lifestyle portal in 2009.[5][6] It also launched its first major digital product - Gaana, a music streaming platform in 2010.
2012 - 2017: Early investments
Times Internet gradually transformed from a media-led company to a technology-led company. It became a conglomerate of multiple digital products, each operating independently within the group.
Times Internet made a series of acquisitions - buying majority stakes in MensXP in 2012 [7], Cricbuzz, Coupondunia and Dineout in 2014 [8][9][10], Taskbucks in 2015 [11], 'The Viral Shots’ and WillowTV in 2016. In 2016, it also forged a strategic alliance with Haptik, an AI-enabled chatbot service.[12] The company launched its startup accelerator, TLabs in 2012 through which it invested in multiple digital startups like Delhivery, Affle, Zipdial, Fab etc.
Times Internet also launched multiple new digital products - Happy Trips in 2014 [13], ET Money and NewsPoint in 2015 [14]. In association with HDFC Bank, it launched ‘Times Points HDFC Bank Debit Card’, an exclusive co-branded debit card in 2016. [15] It also ventured into video streaming with BoxTV in 2012 but shut it down in 2016.[16]
As its portfolio kept growing, Times Internet built Colombia, a full stack AI led ad-tech network that united all its digital products on one central platform. Through this platform, it was able to move & monetize users across its various digital properties, based on consumer interests & needs.[17]
2017 - 2018: Continued investments
Times Internet continued to acquire and launch multiple new digital products across the consumer technology space. It launched ET Insure in February 2017 [18], BrainBaazi in February 2018, and ET Prime in April 2018. It acquired 'House of God' in December 2017 [19] and partnered with Tencent to invest $115 million in Gaana in February 2018.[20]
On June 28, 2018, Times Internet announced it was entering the video streaming space again with the acquisition of MX Player for $140 million.[21]
Through Times Bridge, it entered into a partnership with home improvement startup Houzz in October 2017 [22], and with IBM's The Weather Company in May 2018.[23]
Products
List of digital products owned and managed by Times Internet as of June 2018.
| Product | Description |
|---|---|
| Ahmedabad Mirror | News portal focused on Ahmedabad |
| Astrospeak | Astrology and horoscope service |
| Bangalore Mirror | News portal focused on Bengaluru |
| BrainBaazi | Live trivia streaming platform |
| CouponDunia | Deals discovery platform |
| Cricbuzz | Cricket infotainment platform |
| Databack | Data savings service |
| Dineout | Table reservation service |
| Ei Samay | News portal in Bengali |
| ET (Economic Times) | Business & financial news portal |
| ET Insure | Insurance guide and buying platform |
| ET Money | Personal money management service |
| ET Prime | Subscription based business news platform |
| Filmipop | Movie infotainment and listings portal |
| Gaana | Music streaming platform |
| Get Me a Shop | Offline to online eCommerce service |
| Gradeup | Education platform and community |
| Happy Trips | Travel guide & information portal |
| Haptik | AI enabled chatbot service |
| House of God | Religious and devotional platform |
| iDiva | Women's lifestyle portal |
| Indiatimes | News and infotainment platform |
| MagicBricks | Real estate listings & information portal |
| MensXP | Men's lifestyle portal |
| Maharashtra Times | News portal in Marathi |
| MX Player | Video streaming platform |
| MeetUniversity.Com | Study Abroad Advise Platform |
| Navbharat Times | News portal in Hindi |
| NavGujarat Samay | News portal in Gujarati |
| NewsPoint | News aggregation portal |
| Pune Mirror | News portal focused on Pune |
| Samayam | Infotainment portal in Malayalam, Telugu, and Tamil |
| Speaking Tree | Spirituality platform and network |
| Taskbucks | Reward based discovery platform |
| TechGig | Technology platform and community |
| Times Card | Lifestyle based co-branded credit card |
| Times Jobs | Jobs listings portal |
| TOI (Times of India) | News portal in English |
| Vijay Karnataka | News portal in Kannada |
| ViralShots | Trending news and stories portal |
| Whats Hot | Local guide to your city |
| WiFive | WiFi discovery service |
| Willow | Cricket broadcast platform |
References
- ↑ "Biggest names in music rock Gaana show". India Post. Retrieved 2018-06-18.
- ↑ ""The biggest challenge is monetisation": Gautam Sinha, CEO, Times Internet". www.afaqs.com. Retrieved 2018-05-18.
- ↑ "Times Internet's Gautam Sinha On Turning A Legacy Media Company Into A Conglomerate Of 37 Digital Startups - Inc42 Media". Inc42 Media. 2016-12-26. Retrieved 2018-05-18.
- ↑ "Times Internet Scaling Down E-commerce Operations".
- ↑ "Magicbricks.com awarded the best online realty portal". Retrieved 2018-05-18.
- ↑ "iDiva.com wins 2 million hearts in 6 months". The Economic Times. 2009-06-19. Retrieved 2018-05-18.
- ↑ "Times Internet acquires men's lifestyle portal MensXP". The Economic Times. 2012-11-27. Retrieved 2018-05-18.
- ↑ "Times Internet acquires Cricbuzz". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 2018-05-18.
- ↑ "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem". www.techinasia.com. Retrieved 2018-05-18.
- ↑ indiainfoline.com. "Times Internet acquires majority stake in Coupondunia". Retrieved 2018-05-18.
- ↑ "Times Internet acquires majority stake in Taskbucks for $15M". VCCircle. 2015-11-16. Retrieved 2018-05-19.
- ↑ "Haptik, an India-based mobile concierge service, raises $11.2M from Times Internet – TechCrunch". techcrunch.com. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
- ↑ "Times Internet launches travel portal, HappyTrips.com". Indian Advertising Media & Marketing News – exchange4media. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
- ↑ "ET Money's big billion feat". The Economic Times. 2017-09-25. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
- ↑ indiainfoline.com. "Times Internet associates with HDFC Bank to launch 'Times Points HDFC Bank Debit Card'". Retrieved 2018-05-31.
- ↑ "Times Internet acquires MX Player. For $200 million - The Ken". The Ken. 2018-01-24. Retrieved 2018-05-18.
- ↑ "Times Internet's Gautam Sinha On Turning A Legacy Media Company Into A Conglomerate Of 37 Digital Startups - Inc42 Media". Inc42 Media. 2016-12-26. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
- ↑ "Times Internet launches ETinsure.com to simplifyinsurance buying, claims". The Economic Times. 2017-02-04. Retrieved 2018-05-18.
- ↑ "Times Internet Acquires Spiritual Content Startup House Of God; Enters The Country's $40 Bn Religious Market". Inc42 Media. 2017-12-18. Retrieved 2018-05-18.
- ↑ "Tencent Is Said to Lead $115 Million Deal in India's Gaana". Bloomberg.com. 2018-02-27. Retrieved 2018-05-18.
- ↑ "India's Times Internet buys popular video app MX Player for $140M to get into streaming – TechCrunch". techcrunch.com. Retrieved 2018-06-29.
- ↑ "Online marketplace for homeowners Houzz partners with Times Bridge to tap India - MediaNama". www.medianama.com. Retrieved 2018-05-19.
- ↑ "Times Bridge joins hand with IBM's The Weather Company to provide personalise climate coverage to Indian users - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2018-05-18.