To settle in their lives, people want to achieve four major goals: education, job, home, and a life partner. Info Edge, one of the oldest Indian internet firms, helps its users in achieving all the above goals. Recruitment solutions, real estate business, matrimony services, and education-related portals are the major areas where Info Edge is active. The firm has also become a known investment partner in the Indian startup ecosystem.
Let’s have a quick look at Info Edge’s journey:
Beginning of Info Edge
Info Edge was founded in 1995 by Sanjeev Bikhchandani. At that time, it was a very brave decision by Sanjeev to start an internet company with limited internet infrastructure in India. The management team identified job searching as a major problem in India. To overcome that, Naukri.com was launched in India in 1997. Currently, it is the leading job portal globally.
Later, the company launched the matrimonial platform Jeevansathi.com. Shiksha.com, an education-based portal, is another popular website launched by Info Edge. These portals have extended their operations across the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Europe.
On November 21, 2006, Info Edge started public offering its shares. Info Edge listed its shares on BSE(Bombay Stock Exchange). It became the first Indian dotcom firm to go public on domestic courses. listed a portion of its shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange, becoming the first Indian dotcom company to go public on domestic bourses. The Company continues to trade shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange and India’s National Stock Exchange. The Company is the leading internet company in India, operating several popular platforms.
In 2016, Info Edge recorded total net sales of Rs 7.23 billion compared to Rs 6.11 billion in 2015. Naukri.com contributes maximum in the total revenue of Info Edge.
Recent Growth by Info Edge
For the last 6-7 years, Info Edge has become very popular in the Indian startup ecosystem due to its active participation in funding events. Online food delivery giant Zomato, insuretech aggregator PolicyBazaar, edtech startup Adda247, digital ledger platform Khatabook are some of the major startups where Info Edge has invested.
Info Edge has officially revealed that its investment portfolio has grown from Rs 336 crore in FY14 to Rs 1,108 crore in FY20. Overall, it observed a 2.29x growth in its investment portfolio during the last six years from 2014 to 2020.
In January 2020, Info Edge also announced the IE Venture fund of Rs 100 crore. It will focus on tech and tech-enabled startups. Under this initiation, it has invested in Dotpe Pvt Ltd (INR 10.4 Cr), Qyuki Digital Media Pvt Ltd (INR 25.2 Cr), Intellihealth Solutions Pvt Ltd (INR. 3.7 Cr), Fanbuff Esports India Pvt Ltd (INR 3.5 Cr), and other online startups.
In the last four quarters, Info Edge has recorded a downfall in its profit but it did not stop the firm to reach a market cap of $10 billion. In the lone year, Info Edge’s share value got doubled due to the IPO announcement of Zomato and PolicyBazaar where the firm has invested a huge amount. In Zomato, Info Edge is the largest shareholder in Zomato with over 18% share.
