Ixigo, an online search engine for travel, has announced the acquisition of IndianBackpacker.com, a portal where travelers share articles and photos of their trips in India, for an undisclosed amount.
IndianBackpacker.com was founded in 2008 by MBA graduates Akshay Chhugani and Manu Mehta. Along with sharing articles and photos of trips in India, the platform also provides information about backpacking hotspots and how to get there.
As per the deal, Akshay Chhugani will join ixigo as head of its new segment on traveler communities. The company claims to have 6 million monthly active users on its portal. Ixigo recently entered into the budget hotel and cab segments.
At ixigo, Chhugani will be responsible to build and nurture curated communities of travellers across interest areas. We look forward to building an authentic Indian traveller community and curate deep knowledge of offbeat destinations and niche travel experiences.
Aloke Bajpai, co-founder & CEO of ixigo, said,
As a part of ixigo’s vision of simplifying the lives of Indian travellers, we want to build a strong connect with communities of travellers who possess a shared passion, purpose or taste. Akshay has travelled extensively through India on a shoestring budget and has mastered the art of spending less and travelling more in terms of budget accommodation, destinations and experiences.
Ixigo was started in 2006 by Aloke Bajpai, Rajnish Kumar and Dharmendra Yashovardhan. It claims to be offering more than deals from more than 25,000 agents across online and offline market. Recently, Micromax, the Indian smartphone vendor made a stretegic investment in the company with which the company aims to achieve 30 million mobile users for its platform by the end of 2016.
