NDTV Forays Into Online Wedding Market, Raises Funds At $20 Mn Valuation For The New Venture

SUMMARY

Sachin Singhal Joins As CEO Of Venture, Special Occasion Limited

Media conglomerate NDTV has forayed into the online wedding market segment with the launch of Special Occasion Limited and raised an undisclosed amount in funding at a valuation of $20 Mn, led by US-based venture capital firm CerraCap.

The platform will provide 360 degree solutions in the wedding and festival space. The raised capital will be used to kick-start the new venture.

Sports marketing, entertainment & licensing firm Baseline was responsible for the partnership between NDTV & CerraCap.

The wedding business in India is growing at huge 20% year on year. There are 10 Mn weddings every year in India. “Not just weddings, festival spending is also huge and this platform will be the go to destination when you are getting married or attending a wedding or celebrating any special occasion,” said Smeeta Chakrabarti President Revenue NDTV Group.

NDTV has also appointed Sachin Singhal as a CEO of Special Occasion Limited, who comes with 10 years of experience in key startups in the country. He has been a key member in setting and scaling up leading brands like naaptol.com and letsbuy.com among others.

Speaking on the development, Saurabh Suri, Managing Partner CerraCap Ventures said, “The wedding industry in India is a $40 Bn market which is highly disorganized and has operated the same way for decades. With India’s growing tech savvy populous; this market is ripe for disruption. Special Occasions has the right team, vision and platform to enable this disruption and be a leader in this space.”

With this launch, NDTV establishes itself more firmly in the digital and ecommerce space.

Currently, the company runs an ecommerce portal for ethnic wear by the name Indianroots.com; an ecommerce venture for gadgets, named Gadgets 360°; and Fifth Gear Auto, an auto portal complementing NDTV’s car and bike shows.

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