Case Studies of

Entrepreneurship
Term-5th

MBA (FB&E) Batch: 2014-16

Name: Anupam Mittal

Submitted to: Prof. Rajesh Kikani

Date:20/09/2015

By:
SMEET JAIN
(144154)

About
Anupam Mittal is an Indian businessman. He is the founder and CEO
of People Group, which includes the matchmaking portal Shaadi,
property search website Makaan.com and mobile media company
Mauj Mobile. Over 40 million people visit People Group properties
every month.
He is also an active angel investor with over 50 investments such as
Interactive Avenues, Ola Cabs, Druva, Sapience, Pretty Secrets, and
Caf Zoe. He is also an advisor and LP in several venture capital
firms in India. He is a founding member and past chairman of the
Internet and Mobile Association of India of India (IAMAI) and the
founding Co-chair of H2 India.
Mittal was voted by Business Week as one of Indias 50 Most
Powerful People, and has been on the list of one of the 25 people to
watch out for by The Week Magazine. IMPACT Digital Power 100 list
2012, 2013, and 2014 included him in their list of top businessmen
of Indias digital ecosystem.
In July 2015 he resigned his position of CEO of Shaadi.

Early

life

Transformation

story
Mittal was born on 23 December 1974 in a Marwadi family to Gopal
Krishna Mittal and Bhagawatidevi Gopal Krishna Mittal. He married
model Aanchal Kumar on 4 July, 2013 and is currently residing in
Mumbai.
He has also produced and acted in two films, entitled Flavors & 99.
He was living in the U.S. in the mid-1990s. I was studying there and
then joined a company called Micro Strategy, a business intelligence
software firm. This was the time when the Internet was starting to
boom in the U.S. The Internet was this incredible phenomenon that
was going to change the world. He used to come back to India once
a year, during which time He was not doing much. When He was
here in 1997, He started doing some web development work for
other companies. While sitting in my fathers office, He met one of
those traditional matchmakers. He came in, posed as a friend of my
fathers, and tried to suss me out to match me off. I wised up five
minutes into the conversation. But while anupam was thinking about
how to get [rid of] him out, it suddenly struck him that we could put
all this on the Internet, take away all the inefficiencies and address
the geographical and spatial limitations. And thats what he did.
In 1997, He launched the first version called sagaai.com. [Sagaai
means engagement in Hindi.] It was an experiment. His focus was
more on the web development piece because that was what was
earning the money. He put all that money in this business. In 2001,
He quit his job in the U.S. and moved back [to India], and He
changed the name to shaadi.com

Timeline
November 4, 2015

MediaNama (India) - Ad Network AdMagnet suspends operations

September 24, 2015

Made an investment in
Inner Chef
$1.7M / Seed Round

Phanindra Sama

11 Other Investors Collapse

September 17, 2015

YourStory News - This startup offers a new commuting solution to officegoers in Noida and Gurgaon

TechInAsia - Indian startup takes Pinterest-esque approach to wedding

planning

August 30, 2015

YourStory News - How rBus is tackling the mass transit problem in overcrowded Mumbai

August 13, 2015

Made an investment in
Betaout
o
o

$500k / Seed Round

YourNest Angel Fund

July 31, 2015

YourStory News - Cartisan raises Rs 4.5 crore from Yuvraj Singh and others

July 18, 2015

The Tech Portal - Crowdfunding Platform Ketto Raises $700K Seed Round To
Step Into South-East Asia

July 16, 2015

e27 News - Indian crowdfunding site Ketto raises US$700K for SEA
expansion

June 15, 2015

The Tech Portal - Online Marketplace For Pre-owned Cars Truebil Gets
$500K From KAE and Others

The Tech Portal - The Porter Grabs $5.5 Million To Organise Indias
Scattered Logistics Market

June 8, 2015

YourStory News - Artist and designer focused marketplace PosterGully

secures $160K Natarajan Iyer among others

June 1, 2015

Made an investment in
Truebil
o

Kae Capital

o
o

$500k / Seed Round

1 Other Investor Collapse

YourStory News - Used car marketplace Truebil snaps up $500K funding

from Kae Capital and Anupam mittal

TechInAsia - Ex-Housing exec gets funding to sell pre-owned cars in India

1 More Article

May 15, 2015

The Tech Portal - Cloud Data Integration Platform ZapStitch Grabs $2

million in Pre-Series A

April 30, 2015

YourStory News - PropTiger and Makaan break the compound wall, gear up
for bigger battles

April 29, 2015

TechInAsia - PropTiger acquires rival as Indias online property startups

boom

April 15, 2015

The Tech Portal - Newscorp-backed PropTiger.com Acquires Rival Platform

Makaan.com

January 20, 2015

Trak.in (India) - How will 3G Impact PE/VC Investments in Telecom Special

Telecom Investing Panel at APEX 10 PE/VC Summit

January 9, 2015

YourStory News - With over 1900 active stores, Kartrocket gears to grab
bigger pie of e-commerce enablement space

January 8, 2015

YourStory News - Near.in, a marketplace app for local service providers

raises INR 1.8 crore in angel round

January 6, 2015

Made an investment in
Near.in
o

$290k / Seed Round

Manish Vij

Himanshu Aggarwal
Akash Agarwal
o

3 Other Investors Collapse

December 17, 2014

YourStory News - Ecommerce enabler Zepo raises funding from Anupam

Mittal & One97 Mobility Fund

December 16, 2014

Made an investment in
Zepo
o

Undisclosed Amount / Venture Round

One97 Mobility Fund

o
o

1 Other Investor Collapse

December 8, 2014

YourStory News - 'Seed funds need to refuel,' Rajesh Sawhney on the

investment scenario in India

October 28, 2014

VCCircle - Olacabs raising $210M in Series D investment from SoftBank,

Tiger Global, others

September 15, 2014

YourStory News - Online lingerie store raises $2 million from Orios Venture
Partners

July 10, 2014

VCCircle - Olacabs raises over $41M in Series C funding from Steadview,

Sequoia & others

June 12, 2014

YourStory News - What it takes to build an online lingerie brand:

PrettySecrets story

May 1, 2014

Made an investment in
Pipemonk (Formerly ZapStitch)
o

$100k / Seed Round

February 15, 2014

YourStory News - AirStream.io: 150,000 downloads and going strong

December 30, 2013

VCCircle - IAN angels generated returns in 3-22x range from investee

startups

November 20, 2013

VCCircle - IAN invests in women-focused online fashion brand FabAlley.com

August 22, 2013

VCCircle - Building a billion-dollar business should not be the only target

for Indian entrepreneurs: TutorVista founder K Ganesh

August 1, 2013

Silicon India - IndiaCollegeSearch Raises Undisclosed Funds From IAN

July 31, 2013

Made an investment in
IndiaCollegeSearch

$20M / Angel Round

Varun Khurana

Vikram Upadhyaya
Nitin Jain
o

3 Other Investors Collapse

YourStory News - Gurgaon-based IndiaCollegeSearch raises angel round

from IANs members Anupam Mittal, Varun Khurana and others

May 10, 2013

Made an investment in
ZAPR
o

Undisclosed Amount / Angel Round

Samir Bangara

o
o

17 Other Investors Collapse

April 28, 2013

YourStory News - [Book Review] 8 Steps to Innovation: Going from Jugaad

to Excellence

December 26, 2012

YourStory News - The 2012 Indian Startup Funding Digest- Venture Capital
and Angel investment in 2012

December 12, 2012

YourStory News - GSF Startup SharedCab raises INR 5 crores from Anupam
Mittal, Kae Capital and Blume Ventures

January 4, 2012

YourStory News - The 2011 Indian Startup Funding Digest - Venture Capital
& Angel Investment in 2011

April 21, 2011

Made an investment in
Ola
o
o

$330k / Angel Round

Rehan yar Khan

Kunal Bahl
o

2 Other Investors Collapse

YourStory News - Car rental portal Olacabs.com receives first round of

angel funding from Anupam Mittal & Rehan yar Khan

January 26, 2011

YourStory News - Broadband connectivity and regulatory measures will

drive e-commerce growth in India

March 29, 2010

YourStory News - Mumbai considered as the second most preferred

investment destination for real estate in 2010 Says Makaan.com survey

January 28, 2008

Gigaom - Mandatory For Rediff And Sify To List In Indian Markets; Cleartrip
Eyes IPO

August 27, 2007

Gigaom - People Group Plans 2009 Listing, Targets Revenues Of Around

$80 Million By 2010

June 18, 2007

Gigaom - MakeMyTrip To List In 2008? Shaadi Also Planning To List Says

Report

May 16, 2007

Gigaom - Murugavel Janakiraman Appointed IAMAI Chairman; Subho Ray To

Continue As President

January 27, 2007

Gigaom - @Digital Summit: Interconnection, Provocation, Bandwidth And

Ecommerce Certification

November 30, 2006

Gigaom - E-Business Summit: Focus On Future, Not Past, Will Drive Growth

July 27, 2006

Gigaom - IAMAI Members Differ On Online Matrimonial Market Estimates

March 21, 2006

Gigaom - Anupam Mittal New Chairman Of IAMAI; Subho Ray Takes Over As
President From Preeti Desai

March 9, 2006

Gigaom - This Just In: WestBridge Capital Partners Invests $8 Million In

Shaadi.com

February 24, 2006

Gigaom - Mauj Telecom Announces $10 Million Investment From

WestBridge Capital Partners, Intel Capital and Se

February 21, 2006

Gigaom - Mauj To Get Funding From WestBridge Capital, Intel And Sequoia
Capita

Legacy
Anupam Mittal could be mistaken for a model on a Mumbai street in
his blue party shirt, yellow denims, earrings and a David Beckham
hairstyle. Yet the media-shy Mittal is one of Indias most successful
angel investors whose ventures include Shaadi.com, Makaan.com
and Mauj Mobile.
Valuations of companies where Mittal is invested are hitting the roof
as Indian e-commerce booms. With over 40 investments in
Interactive Avenues, Ola Cabs, Druva, Sapience, Pretty Secrets, Caf
Zoe and others, the value of Mittals portfolio has jumped 10-fold in
the last couple of years.
In April 2011, Ola Cabs had raised approximately Rs 1 crore from
Anupam Mittal and Rehan Yar Khan in an angel round of funding.
Mittal holds about two per cent equity in Ola, which touched a
valuation of Rs 1,100 crore when it raised $41 million in July. Later, it
raised another $210 million in a round led by Softbank. Mittal's stake
in Ola, acquired for Rs 50-60 lakh, has risen in value to Rs 22-25
crore in three years.
When you look at investment, Ola gives a very high return because
the amount we put in was small. The higher you go in absolute
amount, the harder it becomes to generate returns, but generating
high ROIs (returns on investment) on small amounts is easier,
Mittal said.
Mittal has exited four or five investments with high returns.
Interactive Avenues was Indias largest digital advertising agency,
which we sold last year to IPG, a global advertising conglomerate. It
was the biggest exit in that space in India. The other one was Little
Eye Labs, which was sold to Facebook earlier this year. It was the

first acquisition I faced in India. And those are the exits so far.
Interactive Avenues was sold for about Rs 350-400 and two
investors who held a majority stake, Mittal and Sequoia Capital,
exited. Mittal had an investment of Rs 3.5 crore for a minority stake.
According to him, another five or six exits will happen in the next 12
months. Some are under discussion right now, but we are pretty
confident we will see at least five or six (exits) in the next 12
months, he said.
As any other angel investor, Mittal is ready to write off a fourth of
his investments. "So whether it is Sapience, Dhruva, Pretty Secrets,
Ola Cabs or Interactive Avenues, all these are going to be very big
returns. Then there is probably about 15-20 companies that will do
okay, where the return may be three-four times the money. Then I
think there is going to be about 10-15 which will fail. So I have
already written off about five or six small companies and will write
off another seven or eight, or at least 10," Mittal said, describing his
investment strategy.
The total investment by Mittal is about $1.5 million in the last seven
years. "If you take the value of the existing shares in some of these
companies based on their most recent funding round, it is worth
$15-20 million, which is pretty good in seven years time," Mittal
said.
Mitttal married Mumbai-based model Anchal Kumar at a fairy tale
ceremony in Jaipur last July.
According to him, India is witnessing a big change in
entrepreneurship. "If you go back seven to ten years, there was a
stigma of failure. So everybody used to take up jobs as engineers,

doctors and so on. Now it is easier, people are accepted even if they
fail, Mittal said. Also, not many role models existed for
entrepreneurs back then, he added