BookMyShow is gearing up for a fresh round, expected to close next week — to the tune of $75 Million — from the likes of US-based private equity and venture capital firm Stripes Group and existing investors. This will be BMS’s largest round of funding once completed.
The ticketing company is in talks with Stripes Group who will lead the funding round and is ready to infuse around $50 million into the company, according to sources close to LiveMint. The Tech Portal has also received insider information regarding investment into BookMyShow. While the sources haven’t confirmed the investor to us but we have confirmation that the investment amount is accurate.
The source has also added that,
It has been on the road to raise funds for the last three-four months. The talks are currently at an advanced stage. Stripes Group is looking to invest anywhere between $40 million and $50 million.
After Baidu’s public announcement that it is planning investments in some of India’s most established players in their respective domains — Zomato, BigBasket and BookMyShow, it seemed that it was the major player in the funding. But it seems that the talks didn’t reach any positive conclusion.
According to present speculations, all existing investors of the ticketing company – SAIF Partners, Accel Partners and Network18 M&I Ltd. will also be joining the table at the next round of funding. Both parties have declined to comment on the funding development, as its in a very early stage.
Stripes Group founded by Kenneth Allen Fox in 2003, is a private equity and VC firm based out of Manhattan that invests in Internet, Software / SaaS, Healthcare IT and Branded Consumer Products companies. It is known for acquiring and investing in well-developed businesses with a strong revenue model. The firm currently has over $1.5 billion assets and has completed 18 investments. some key investments of the firm include players like Blue Apron, Kinetic Social and Refinery29.
Once completed, this will be BookMyShow’s third round of funding that will bump the total invested amount in the company from a mere $43 million to a staggering $118 million. This however will be Stripes first investment in the Indian startup ecosystem. The ticketing company has earlier raised money in two rounds, led by Accel Ventures and SAIF Partners respectively.
BookMyShow event though is the key player in the e-commerce ticketing space has competition from the likes of KyaZoonga or MeraEvents. To expand beyond just ticketing, BookMyShow has ventured into the discount space and partnered with restaurants and fast-food chains to provide offers to users. The company expects to sell 50 per cent more tickets than last year, amounting to over 150 million tickets.
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