Shaadi.com Plans Second Go At IPO

“We are profitable, and in about 12 months, we will be IPO-ready, and it’s a good place to be. However, we don’t require capital at the moment," Mittal said in an interview.

While Mittal did not disclose details of his IPO plans, the move comes more than a decade after the company’s initial listing plans for 2009 were deferred.

While Shaadi.com was founded in 1996 by Mittal, he established the People Group in 2001. Mittal owns a significant stake in the company, along with a minority stake held by venture capital firm Saama Capital. Besides Shaadi.com, the group also runs the real estate website Makaan.com and mobile gaming firm Mauj Mobile.

Among India’s largest digital matrimonial services, Shaadi.com is operated by People Interactive India Pvt. Ltd, a unit of People Group. Its listed peers include Info Edge (India) Ltd, which operates Jeevansathi.com, and Matrimony.com Ltd, which operates Bharat Matrimony. While Info Edge was listed in 2006, Matrimony.com was listed in 2017.

All three firms are among the first generation of consumer internet companies in India, which started in the 1990s. According to media reports, Matrimony.com has a market share of over 50-55%, Shaadi.com has around 25-30% and Jeevansathi around 10%. The pandemic has accelerated business growth for several of these websites, even as they face tough competition from dating platforms.

To take on dating platforms, Shaadi.com is gearing up to launch newer products. The company will launch Shaadi Live as one of the verticals within the Shaadi platform. It will allow matches to meet face-to-face virtually and interact on a platform curated by Shaadi.com’s in-house team.

“We have experimented for a year and will launch these new verticals in the coming weeks. We will bring people together and make conversations on Shaadi.com beyond chats and messages. These will be real-time capabilities being made available to the customers," Mittal said, adding that this will expand the app’s use-case dramatically, making it more sticky. Shaadi.com is based in Mumbai with offices in Delhi, Chennai, Indore, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Dubai, London and New York.

People Interactive India also runs Shaadi.com Centre—a network of centres that offer matrimonial-related services—and ShaadiTimes, a relationship and wedding portal that provides its users with information, advice, and services to manage various aspects of their wedding experience and relationships.

Mittal said People Group turned profitable a couple of years ago, but declined to disclose details about revenue or profits. The numbers were also unavailable on the MCA website.

Mittal, who is also an angel investor, has become popular as a judge and investor in the reality television show Shark Tank India. Currently shooting for the second season of Shark Tank India, Mittal has invested over ₹5 crore in companies presented during the first season.