Ixigo Provides Around 8X Returns To Its Early Investor MakeMyTrip

Online ticket aggregator platform MakeMyTrip(MMT) has received around 8X return after selling its stake in travel search engine ixigo. According to MMT financials, the online travel agency has completed the sale of their entire equity investment in ixigo for a total cash consideration of $38.5 Mn and recorded a gain on sale of $33.1 Mn. 

MMT in 2011 along with Elevation Capital (then known as SAIF Partners) had acquired 19.9%  and 56.7% of ixigo’s shares respectively for $18.5 Mn valuing the startup at around $25 Mn. Back then, MMT had invested $4.8 Mn in ixigo. Later in 2014, indigenious phone manufacturer Micromax purchased a 4% stake in the company. 

Gurugram-based online travel ticket aggregator Le Travenues Technology, which operates ixigo last month closed a pre-IPO funding round worth $53 Mn led by Singapore-based sovereign fund GIC along with participation from other investors. The latest round was a mix of fresh issue of shares and secondary sale by some of existing investors such as MMT.  Deep Karla, founder and executive chairman of MMT will exit ixigo’s board. To date, ixigo has raised a total funding of $88 Mn. 

The IPO-bound company has also converted into a public limited company. Converting a private company into a public limited company is a mandatory step required for a company to file its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with Indian market regulator SEBI. According to the company filings, Le Travenues Technology Private Limited has been converted into Le Travenues Technology Limited. 

The 15 year old company has also appointed six new independent board members  – Rajesh Sawhney, founder of Indiamart; Rahul Pandit, veteran in hospitality sector;  Frederic Lalonde, founder of Hopper Inc, Shubha Rao Mayya, former VP of ICICI Limited, ICICI Prudential Life; Arun Seth, ex chairman and trustee of Nasscom Foundation, and MP Mall, former chairman and MD of IRCTC.

Founded by Aloke Bajpai and Rajnish Kumar in  2007, ixigo is expected to file its DRHP in a couple of months and is targeting a valuation of around $750 Mn – 800Mn. The company is targeting an IPO size of around INR 1,500 Cr – INR 1,800 Cr. The company has joined the bandwagon of startups such as Nykaa, MobiKwik, CarTrade, and Paytm who will be going public this year. 

The company also acquired Abhibus, a Hyderabad-based bus ticketing and aggregation platform last week. This is the travel aggregator’s second acquisition so far in 2021, as the company acquired train booking app Confirmtkt in February 2021.