MakeMyTrip invests $5M in travel start-up Bona Vita, acquires 67% stake
By Samiksha Jain •
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Gurgaon-headquarter and Nasdaq listed online travel firm MakeMyTrip.com has invested $5 million in New Delhi-based travel start-up Bona Vita Technologies, acquiring majority shareholding on a fully diluted basis. MakeMyTrip disclosed the recent development in its first quarterly filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The travel portal also reported an increase of 14.7 per cent in its year-on-year revenue at $38.1 million in the quarter ended June 30, 2015.
Commenting on new investment Deep Kalra, Founder & Group CEO, MakeMyTrip, said, "We have invested $5 million in Bona Vita Technologies Private Limited acquiring 67 per cent shareholding on a fully-diluted basis."
Founded by former Sanpdeal Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Amitabh Misra, Bona Vita intends to use this capital to build a differentiated product offering in the travel industry. Misra joined Snapdeal in 2011, and was credited with creating and building company's IT infrastructure and backend systems. Later Misra, who is an IIT Kanpur and University of California at Berkeley alumni, resigned from his post at the end of February this year to start his own entrepreneurial venture Bona Vita Technologies.
In recent past, MakeMyTrip has sealed line of deals. Last week, the company picked up a 28 per cent stake in Leisure and Lifestyle Information Services website HolidayIQ for $15 million. It also bought an 18 per cent stake in California-based Inspirock.com, an online planning tool for developing customizable itineraries. In April, MakeMytrip acquired the assets of travel planning firm Mygola.com. Prior to that, in January 2015, the firm also bought 25 per cent stake in Bengaluru-based digital hotel marketing solutions start-up Simplotel.
