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The 10 Most Acquisitive Indian Startups in 2015

The 10 Most Acquisitive Indian Startups in 2015

By Sriram Sharma | Updated: 17 December 2015 16:11 IST

India's startup ecosystem saw plenty of high profile layoffs, stalled startups, and rumoured acquisitions, with a narrative built around a funding winter, brought upon by the the crash of the Chinese stock market in June 2015.

According to stats provided by VCCedge.com, a financial research platform for private markets, there were a total of 224 mergers and acquisitions from January 2015 to December, worth $2139.41 million (roughly Rs. 14,280 crores), out of which, only the values for 40 were disclosed. Out of these, 157 were domestic, while 30 were inbound, that is, stake purchases in Indian startups or Indian-owned foreign assets by overseas entities. There were a total of 37 outbound deals, where Indian companies made investments internationally.

Recent news reports say that Softbank-funded Oyo Rooms may acquire cash-strapped Zo Rooms in an all-stock deal. A few weeks ago, Quikr's rumoured acquisition of Commonfloor did the rounds, reportedly valued at around $200 million (roughly Rs. 1333 crores).

As for the deals that have been inked, startup data-tracker Tracxn sent in a list of over 120 Indian Internet companies that got acquired this year, out of which deal values for only 13 were disclosed. Here's an overview of the most acquisitive startups from India this year.

1) Snapdeal
Snapdeal's acquisition of FreeCharge, at a reported valuation of $400 million (roughly Rs. 2,681 crores) in April this year was one of the biggest in the history of the Internet industry in India. Snapdeal's execution of its string of pearls strategy was built upon its acquisition Unicommerce, a provider of multi channel order fulfillment software provider, and RupeePower, a digital distribution platform for financial products in March. In May, it acquired mobile technology startup, MartMobi, LetsGoMo Labs, a mobility solutions company in June, and Reduce Data in September this year, which was eventually used to launch its Ads platform.

Number of companies: 7
Total disclosed spending: $400 million

2) Ola
Ola's acquisition of TaxiForSure in March helped fend off a potential competitor in the cab aggregation space. Following the acquisition, its operations were merged into Ola's app, the TaxiForSure founders quit a month later. The app hasn't been updated since August this year, and is seeing a spate of 1-star ratings on Google Play. Ola also acquired trip planning company Geotagg and a minority stake in Zipcash to foray into mobile wallets.

Number of companies: 3
Total disclosed spending: $200 million

3) Zomato
Zomato acquired US-based rival Urbanspoon for $55 million (roughly Rs. 366 crores) and Turkey-based Mekanist in January, MaplePOS, cloud-based point of sale (POS) product for restaurants, and online table reservation platform NexTable in April.

Number of companies: 3
Total disclosed spending: $55 million

4) Practo
Practo's $12 million (roughly Rs. 79 crores) acquisition of Insta Health, a cloud-based hospital information management solutions provider in September followed its $90 million (roughly Rs. 600 crores) Series C funding round in August. Practo also acquired Fitho, a digital fitness solution firm in April, product outsourcing firm Genii in July, and hospital appointment booking platform Qikwell in September.

Number of companies: 4
Total disclosed spending: $12 million

5) Housing
Housing.com received $90 million (roughly Rs. 600 crores) in funding from SoftBank late 2014, and went ton to acquire Indian Real Estate Forum in March for $1 million (roughly Rs. 6.67 crores), RealtyBI for $2 million (roughly Rs. 13.3 crores) in June, and Homebuy360 for $2 million in August, with two other acquisitions made for an undisclosed sum - BigBHK and Plat in September this year, following the layoff of its co-founder Rahul Yadav.

Number of companies: 5
Total disclosed spending: $5 million

6) Paytm
Paytm made investments in shopping deals app Little, Loginext Solutions and auto-rickshaw aggregator Jugnoo. In recent news, it has reportedly acquired hyperlocal service provider Near.in for $2 million (roughly Rs. 13.3 crores).

Number of companies: 1
Total disclosed spending: $2 million

7) Flipkart
Flipkart's acquisitions this year signal its bid to disrupt the mobile ad tech space, the company acquired Bengaluru-based mobile ad network AdIQuity in March, app marketing and optimisation company Appiterate in April, and payments firm FX Mart in September. Flipkart-owned Myntra acquired Native 5, an app-development firm in May to strengthen its product team.

Number of companies: 3
Total disclosed spending: N/A

8) Grofers
Grofers acquired grocery delivery platform MyGreenBox in April, food delivery app SpoonJoy and B2B logistics service provider Townrush in October. The hyperlocal delivery platform had reportedly raised $120 million (roughly Rs. 800 crores) in its series D round in November from Japan's SoftBank Corp.

Number of companies: 3
Total disclosed spending: N/A

9) Quikr
Online classifieds website Quikr, which achieved unicorn valuation status this year acquired Indian Realty Estate and Realty Compass. Its rumoured acquisition of Commonfloor hasn't been officially confirmed yet by both parties.

Number of companies: 2
Total disclosed spending: N/A

10) Cardekho
Automotive portal CarDekho raised $50 million (roughly Rs. 334 crores) in VC funding in its Series B this year, following which it acquired price comparison website BuyingIQ.com in April, and Times Internet's Zigwheels.com in September.

Number of companies: 2
Total disclosed spending: N/A

Others
According to inputs provided by Tracxn, the second biggest acquisition this year was the purchase of the GI Technology in October this year by German payments company Wirecard, at $254 million (roughly Rs. 2,670 crores). In the food tech sector, Foodpanda acquired JustEat in February.Other highlights include Twitter's acquisition of Bengaluru-based missed call marketing platform Zipdial.

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