Times Internet Explained

Times Internet
Type:Private
Location:Gurgaon, India
Key People:
  • Satyan Gajwani (vice chairman)
  • Puneet Gupt (COO)
Area Served:Worldwide
Products:
Industry:Technology
Services:
Subsid:See below
Parent:The Times Group

Times Internet is an Indian multinational technology company, headquartered in Gurgaon, which owns, operates and invests in various internet-led products, services and technology. It is the digital arm of The Times Group, the largest media conglomerate in India.[1] Times Internet currently owns and operates digital products across news, entertainment and classifieds.

Through its venture capital arm TVentures, Times Internet has invested in over 50 start-ups in the technology space such as logistics provider Delhivery, bus aggregating platform Shuttl, ed-tech platform Byju's, and gaming platform MPL, among others.

History

1999–2011: Initial years

In its initial years, Times Internet primarily focused on digital media—handling the online versions of The Times Group which is owned by Sahu Jain family. Some major print publications includes The Times of India, The Economic Times, Maharashtra Times and Navbharat Times.[2]

Times Internet ventured into multiple new categories with mixed success. It entered social networking and e-commerce with Indiatimes but was unable to scale the business.[3] The company achieved success with MagicBricks, an online real estate platform launched in 2006 and iDiva, a women's lifestyle portal in 2009.[4] [5]

2012–2019: Investments

Times Internet made a series of acquisitions—buying majority stakes in MensXP in 2012,[6] Cricbuzz, Coupondunia and Dineout in 2014,[7] [8] [9] Taskbucks in 2015,[10] 'The Viral Shots' and WillowTV in 2016. In 2016, it also forged a strategic alliance with Haptik, an AI-enabled chatbot service.[11] The company launched its startup accelerator, TLabs in 2012 through which it invested in upcoming digital startups like Delhivery, Pratilipi etc.

Times Internet launched new digital products—Happy Trips in 2014,[12] ET Money and NewsPoint in 2015.[13] In 2015, Times Internet launched Samayam, a website that provides news in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam languages.[14] In association with HDFC Bank, it launched 'Times Points HDFC Bank Debit Card', an exclusive co-branded debit card in 2016.[15] It also ventured into video streaming with Box TV Limited in 2012 but shut it down in 2016.[16]

In 2016, Times Internet built Colombia, an ad-tech network.[17]

Times Internet launched ET Insure in February 2017,[18] BrainBaazi in February 2018, and ET Prime in April 2018. It acquired 'House of God' in December 2017[19] and partnered with Tencent to invest $115 million in Gaana in February 2018.[20]

On 28 June 2018, Times Internet acquired MX Player, the world's largest video player for $140 million.[21] On 20 February 2019, Times Internet re-launched MX Player as a platform streaming movies, TV and web shows.[22]

On 24 April 2019, Times Internet participated as a lead investor in $35.5 million (Rs 2.50 billion) Series-A funding round of Mobile Premier League (MPL).[23]

2020–present: Divestments

In 2022, Times Internet sold its short video app MX Takatak to ShareChat for around $700 million in a cash-and-stock transaction.[24] This was followed by the sale of table reservation platform Dineout to Swiggy in an all-stock deal valued at $120 million.[25] Later that year, it sold MensXP, iDiva and Hypp to e-commerce rollup company Mensa Brands for an undisclosed amount.[26]

In 2023, after failing to find a buyer, the music streaming service Gaana was consolidated with another Times Group company Entertainment Network India Limited (ENIL) for a consideration of 25 lakh.[27]

In 2024, Times Internet sold MX Player to Amazon for around $100 million[28] and ET Money to 360 One WAM for 366 crore in stock swap and cash.[29]

Subsidiaries and products

Product ! scope="col"
DescriptionNote
Ahmedabad MirrorNews portal focused on Ahmedabad
Bangalore MirrorNews portal focused on Bengaluru
Ei SamayNews portal in Bengali
The Economic Times (ET)Business and financial news platform
ETimesEntertainment news portal
IndiatimesNews and infotainment platform
Maharashtra TimesNews portal in Marathi
Miss KyraEntertainment, lifestyle, and fashion news portal
Navbharat TimesNews portal in Hindi
NavGujarat SamayNews portal in Gujarati
NewsPointNews aggregation portal
Pune MirrorNews portal focused on Pune
The Times of India (TOI)News portal in English
Vijaya KarnatakaNews portal in Kannada
SamayamInfotainment and News portal in Malayalam, Telugu, and Tamil
AstrospeakAstrology and horoscope service
TimesPropertyNews portal for real estate industry
BaaziNowLive video and gaming platform
CouponDuniaDeals discovery platform
CricbuzzCricket infotainment platform
CricPlayCricket Fantasy AppDefunct
DatabackData savings service
DineoutTable reservation serviceAcquired by Swiggy
ET MoneyPersonal money management serviceAcquired by 360 One WAM
GaanaMusic streaming platformAcquired by ENIL
MX PlayerVideo player and streaming platformAcquired by Amazon
Get Me a ShopOffline to online eCommerce service
Happy TripsTravel guide and information portal
iDivaWomen's lifestyle portalAcquired by Mensa Brands
MagicBricksReal estate listings and information portal
MensXPMen's lifestyle portalAcquired by Mensa Brands
Speaking TreeSpirituality platform and network
TaskbucksReward based discovery platform
TechGigTechnology platform and community
Times CardLifestyle focused credit cards
Times JobsJobs listings portal
Times NowA TV news channel operates in India
Times PrimeDigital subscriptions platform
Whats HotLocal guide to your city
WillowTV channel focused on cricket broadcast
Times XP HindiPlatform for Hindi news

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Biggest names in music rock Gaana show. India Post. en-US. 18 June 2018.
  2. News: Times Internet's Gautam Sinha On Turning A Legacy Media Company into A Conglomerate Of 37 Digital Startups – Inc42 Media. 26 December 2016. Inc42 Media. 18 May 2018. en-US.
  3. News: Times Internet Scaling Down E-commerce Operations.
  4. News: Magicbricks.com awarded the best online realty portal. 18 May 2018.
  5. News: iDiva.com wins 2 million hearts in 6 months. 19 June 2009. The Economic Times. 18 May 2018.
  6. News: Times Internet acquires men's lifestyle portal MensXP. 27 November 2012. The Economic Times. 18 May 2018.
  7. News: Times Internet acquires Cricbuzz. Cricbuzz. 18 May 2018. en.
  8. Web site: Tech in Asia – Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem. www.techinasia.com. en-US. 18 May 2018.
  9. News: Times Internet acquires majority stake in Coupondunia. indiainfoline.com. 18 May 2018. en.
  10. News: Times Internet acquires majority stake in Taskbucks for $15M. 16 November 2015. VCCircle. 19 May 2018. en-US.
  11. Web site: Haptik, an India-based mobile concierge service, raises $11.2M from Times Internet – TechCrunch. techcrunch.com. en-US. 30 May 2018.
  12. News: Times Internet launches travel portal, HappyTrips.com. Indian Advertising Media & Marketing News – exchange4media. 31 May 2018. en-US.
  13. News: ET Money's big billion feat. 25 September 2017. The Economic Times. 31 May 2018.
  14. Web site: 3 November 2015. Times Internet launches Samayam – digital news & infotainment brand in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam – Exchange4media. 16 July 2020. Exchange4media. en.
  15. News: Times Internet associates with HDFC Bank to launch 'Times Points HDFC Bank Debit Card'. indiainfoline.com. 31 May 2018. en.
  16. News: Times Internet acquires MX Player. For $200 million – The Ken. 24 January 2018. The Ken. 18 May 2018. en-US.
  17. News: Times Internet's Gautam Sinha On Turning A Legacy Media Company into A Conglomerate Of 37 Digital Startups – Inc42 Media. 26 December 2016. Inc42 Media. 30 May 2018. en-US.
  18. News: Times Internet launches ETinsure.com to simplifyinsurance buying, claims. 4 February 2017. The Economic Times. 18 May 2018.
  19. News: Times Internet Acquires Spiritual Content Startup House Of God; Enters The Country's $40 Bn Religious Market. 18 December 2017. Inc42 Media. 18 May 2018. en-US.
  20. News: Tencent Is Said to Lead $115 Million Deal in India's Gaana. 27 February 2018. Bloomberg.com. 18 May 2018. en.
  21. Web site: India's Times Internet buys popular video app MX Player for $140M to get into streaming – TechCrunch. techcrunch.com. en-US. 29 June 2018.
  22. Web site: Times Internet to launch new avatar of MX Player on February 20. 6 February 2019. www.afaqs.com. en-US. 9 May 2019.
  23. Web site: MPL secures Rs 250 cr from Go-Jek arm, Sequoia India & Times Internet – ETtech. www.ETtech.com. ETtech.com. en. 26 April 2019.
  24. News: Kalra . Aditya . Shah . Aditi . India's ShareChat buys rival MX's short-video app in $700 mln deal, sources say . 23 December 2024 . Reuters . 10 February 2022.
  25. News: Swiggy buys Dineout from Times Internet in $120 million all-stock deal . 3 January 2023 . The Economic Times.
  26. News: Mensa acquires MensXP, iDiva, and Hypp brands from Times Internet . 23 December 2024 . BusinessLine . 21 December 2022 . en.
  27. News: Radio Mirchi’s parent acquires Gaana for Rs 25 lakh . 23 December 2024 . Financial Express . 10 August 2024 . en.
  28. News: Singh . Manish . Amazon buys Indian video streaming service MX Player . 23 December 2024 . TechCrunch . 6 June 2024.
  29. News: 360 ONE WAM to acquire ET MONEY in strategic move to strengthen wealth management services . 23 December 2024 . Moneycontrol . 12 June 2024.