Times Internet is an Indian multinationaltechnology 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.
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]
