MakeMyTrip, an online travel planning and ticketing portal has acquired major stake in Bona Vita Technologies Pvt. Ltd. for $5 million, a new venture started by former CTO of Snapdeal, Amitabh Misra.
This details has been disclosed by the company as a part of the earning report for the quarter that ended on June 30, 2015 (via ET).
Currently, it is not known what Bona Vita Technologies is working on as the company has been in stealth ever since its inception. However, it is known that the company will utilize the raised funds for “building differentiated products for the travel industry”.
MakeMyTrip is trying to strengthen its position in the online travel segment. To do so, the company has increased its focus towards hotels and packages by partnering, acquiring and funding other start-ups in the same space. The travel brand faces stiff competition from the likes of goIbibo, which recently expanded its redbus service to South East Asian markets.
Recently, MakeMyTrip picked up 28% stake in HolidayIQ, a travel community and holidays-planning recommendation engine for $15 million. Earlier, it also acquired 18% stake in Inspirock Inc for an undisclosed amount and acqui-hired Mygola. The company also picked up a minority stake in Simplotel.
Rajesh Magow, co-founder and India CEO at MakeMyTrip told ET,
In all our inorganic moves, the focus has been on growing hotels and holidays business. This makes us believe that it’s the right time for us to single mindedly focus on accelerating transaction growth in the Hotels and Packages business to grow our market share in this strategic segment with a view of consolidating long term market leadership in the OTA space.
