After food delivery, the online ticketing market is the one that’s catching the most heat at this moment. BookMyShow, Paytm, and Alibaba are now all invested into this burgeoning ecosystem and are ready to battle one another. To further up the ante, Paytm has picked a majority stake in Mumbai-based event ticketing platform Insider.in, reports subscription-based publication The Ken.
This report further adds weight to previous chatter about the leading payments platform looking to buy into Insider.in. The report from TOI, which surfaced last month, suggested that Paytm will go all out and shell close to $30 million to acquire a massive stake in this venture.
These financial deeds of the transaction, as mentioned earlier, were being considered out of line as the payments major is known to invest around $5 million to $7 million in any venture. And the figure, $5.4 million, The Ken has quoted seems to match up with the expectations we had harbored for this deal.
Thus, it would seem more plausible if Paytm really is shelling out the said funds to make this acquisition happen. We’ve contacted both Paytm and Insider.in to know more about this rumored transaction. The payments major has already said that their ticketing business is one of the most fastest growing and has helped further their business. It provides ticket booking services for everything ranging from movies and railways to flights and now events.
The events ticketing platform — Insider.in is owned and managed by Only Much Louder (OML), which was founded by Vijay Nair back in 2012. OML is a digital media enterprise which strives to bridge the entertainment and travel experience gap in the country.
Insider.in is a platform that helps you discover and buy the best in events, travel, and food in your city. We strive to curate experiences that are worth your time and money, possibly something you’ve never tried before.
This platform, for those unaware, has been developed by the same team behind the widely popular NH7 Weekender experience. It also runs a curated marketplace to offer merch products related to every event, workshop, or other experiences.It has collaborated with some of India’s most renowned stand-up comedians, EDM artists, as well as actors to organize several events. It is noticeably known for organizing the NH7 Weekender and Coalition conference.
This move from Paytm will further enable them to step foot into BookMyShow’s territory, who is known to be the leading provider of events (as well as movie tickets) in the country. It has recently not only picked up fresh funds but also acquired several ticketing platforms to bolsters its stance against competitors, who’re doing everything in their power to play catch. Alibaba Pictures, on the other hand, has also decided to take home a chunk of this pie with a majority stake in Chennai-based TicketNow.
The movie-ticketing market in India is slated to reach to the heights of $2.2 billion to $2.5 billion in the coming years. Out of this, online ticketing has so far constituted only 10-15 percent share but is now rapidly growing at a rate of 10 percent annually.
