BookMyShow valued for over Rs. 1,000 crore!

Bigtree Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., the holding company of India’s leading entertainment ticketing company BookMyShow, today announced an investment from SAIF Partners and its existing investors Accel Partners and Network18.  The investors have invested INR 150 crore as part of this round.

BookMyShow has been scaling rapidly, more than doubling its revenues every year over the last few years. With over 35 million visits and approximately 500 million page views, BookMyShow has grown to become one of the largest transacting e-commerce platforms in the country. The company has sold over 100 million tickets till date. The company re-launched its mobile app which quickly went on to become one of the most downloaded and used apps in India. The company has added 20 new cities by adding new cinemas or handling ticketing for events in those cities. BookMyShow now has a presence in over 200 cities and is striving to further penetrate the single screen cinema segment in each of those markets.

BookMyShow has been leading the charge in managing the ticketing (and on-the-ground logistics in some cases) for most of the leading sporting events in the country. It was the exclusive online ticketing partner for the recently concluded ICC T-20 Championship in Bangladesh. The company is also the exclusive ticketing partner for many IPL teams (including Mumbai Indians, Delhi Daredevils, Rajasthan Royals, Hyderabad Sun Risers, Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab) and also manages ticketing for IPL central rights along with accreditations. In addition, BookMyShow has been the exclusive online ticketing partner for Chennai Open Tennis championship, Super Fight League, Yonex Badminton, etc.

BookMyShow had recently won the startup of the year at the Economic Times awards held last year as recognition of its unrelenting focus on enhancing the experience of its consumers.  The company boasts of strong partners such as PVR, Inox, Big, Fun, Cinepolis, Sathyam amongst others for movie ticketing and has added over 300 single screen cinemas alone in the past 1 year. Live events such as Sunburn, NH7 Weekender and Viacom live events complete the overall offering as being a one-stop destination for consumers’ entertainment needs.

With this round of financing, the company is looking to invest in increasing its penetration outside Tier I cities, build on its infrastructure and expand its offering in order to take its customer experience to the next level.

Avendus Capital was the sole financial advisor and BMR Legal was the legal advisor to this transaction.

On signing the deal, Ashish Hemrajani, Founder & CEO of BookMyShow, said “We are very happy to have SAIF Partners as our latest investors. The common vision of creating scalable and large businesses was aligned to our thought process. Their experience of having helped companies such as MakeMyTrip and Just Dial go public would be of immense value to us as we move forward in our growth plans. We are also very happy to have delivered value to our existing investors and the fact that both Network 18 and Accel have further invested in this round, shows their confidence in the company and the ability of the team to continue delivering and innovating”

Commenting on the transaction, Deepak Gaur, MD - SAIF Partners said, “We are delighted to participate in this exciting journey of bringing world class convenience to consumers across entertainment verticals that BookMyShow offers. We are confident that with the current round of capital raise, BookMyShow team will continue to strengthen the relentless focus on innovation, customer service and technology as our country takes rapid strides in internet penetration.”

Prashanth Prakash, Partner of Accel India said, “As an industry leader, BookMyShow continues to set the agenda when it comes to movie and event experiences in India. We look forward to supporting the team in continuing to enhance value for their customers and realizing the potential of becoming the default destination for consumers' entertainment needs.”

Commenting on the transaction, Sarbvir Singh from Network18 said, “BookMyShow has emerged as the country’s leading entertainment ticketing destination. The company continues to attract high pedigree investors and with SAIF Partners joining Accel Partners and Network18, the BookMyShow team will be able to further enhance customer experience and market leadership. We were happy to participate in the transaction and look forward to the next phase of the BookMyShow journey. ”