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Media conglomerate NDTV has launched its online marketplace for all things wedding Bandbaajaa.com.
BandBaaja.com showcases designs by marquee designers such as Neeta Lulla, Anju Modi, Neha Mehta, etc. It has over 1500 vendors and lifestyle professionals, coupled with over 5000 products.
Through the website, users can get assistance to ideate wedding ideas, manage budget and find vendors according to their preferred location. The platform provides assistance on venues, photography, DJ & entertainers, wedding decor, makeup artists, invitation cards, caterers, etc. It also provides retail options for wedding dresses and delivers an end-to-end solution to the customers.
Smeeta Chakrabarti, Managing Director, Bandbaajaa.com, said, “Weddings are a recession proof business, the current generation of young Indians will find everything they need to plan a perfect wedding with minimum fuss. The idea has been very well received by the market. It’s a hugely exciting space to be in.”
Prior to this in December 2015, the group decided to foray into the online wedding market segment, and the business was launched as Special Occasion Limited after it raised an undisclosed amount in funding at a valuation of $20 Mn led by US-based venture capital firm CerraCap.
Earlier this year in February 2016, NDTV’s ethnic ecommerce venture, IndianRoots, launched Fashion Business Accelerator in partnership with 6Degree, to boost budding fashion professionals. Other ventures by NDTV include online health product marketplace SmartCooky, an ecommerce venture for gadgets, named Gadgets 360° and Fifth Gear Auto, an auto portal complementing NDTV’s car and bike shows.
The Indian wedding market is pegged to be around $40 Bn and is ripe for disruption. Earlier in February 2016, another wedding services provider app, AppilyEver, raised $400K in a seed round of funding from a group of angel investors led by Varun Aggarwal, founder of Univariety. Other startups in this segment include Weddingz.in, Shaadimagic.com, WedMeGood, ShaadiSaga, and WedmeGood.com, etc.
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