Times Internet
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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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.
HistoryEdit
1999–2011: Initial yearsEdit
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.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The company achieved success with MagicBricks, an online real estate platform launched in 2006 and iDiva, a women's lifestyle portal in 2009.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2012–2019: InvestmentsEdit
Times Internet made a series of acquisitions—buying majority stakes in MensXP in 2012,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Cricbuzz, Coupondunia and Dineout in 2014,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Taskbucks in 2015,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 'The Viral Shots' and WillowTV in 2016. In 2016, it also forged a strategic alliance with Haptik, an AI-enabled chatbot service.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The company launched its startup accelerator, TLabs in 2012 through which it invested in upcoming digital startups like Delhivery, Pratilipi etc. Times Internet and Adstuck launched a joint venture Alive. Alive was an augmented reality browser to promote brands with print using augmented reality. <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Times Internet launched new digital products—Happy Trips in 2014,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> ET Money and NewsPoint in 2015.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2015, Times Internet launched Samayam, a website that provides news in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam languages.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In association with HDFC Bank, it launched 'Times Points HDFC Bank Debit Card', an exclusive co-branded debit card in 2016.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It also ventured into video streaming with Box TV Limited in 2012 but shut it down in 2016.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2016, Times Internet built Colombia, an ad-tech network.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Times Internet launched ET Insure in February 2017,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> BrainBaazi in February 2018, and ET Prime in April 2018. It acquired 'House of God' in December 2017<ref name=":2">Template:Cite news</ref> and partnered with Tencent to invest $115 million in Gaana in February 2018.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On 28 June 2018, Times Internet acquired MX Player, the world's largest video player for $140 million.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On 20 February 2019, Times Internet re-launched MX Player as a platform streaming movies, TV and web shows.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2020–present: DivestmentsEdit
In 2022, Times Internet sold its short video app MX Takatak to ShareChat for around $700 million in a cash-and-stock transaction.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This was followed by the sale of table reservation platform Dineout to Swiggy in an all-stock deal valued at $120 million.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Later that year, it sold MensXP, iDiva and Hypp to e-commerce rollup company Mensa Brands for an undisclosed amount.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
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 Template:INR25 lakh.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2024, Times Internet sold MX Player to Amazon for around $100 million<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and ET Money to 360 One WAM for Template:INR366 crore in stock swap and cash.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Subsidiaries and productsEdit
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}}</ref> |
Product | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Ahmedabad Mirror | News portal focused on Ahmedabad | |
| Bangalore Mirror | News portal focused on Bengaluru | |
| Ei Samay | News portal in Bengali | |
| The Economic Times (ET) | Business and financial news platform | |
| ETimes | Entertainment news portal | |
| Template:Anchor Indiatimes | News and infotainment platform | |
| Maharashtra Times | News portal in Marathi | |
| Miss Kyra | Entertainment, lifestyle, and fashion news portal | |
| Navbharat Times | News portal in Hindi | |
| NavGujarat Samay | News portal in Gujarati | |
| NewsPoint | News aggregation portal | |
| Pune Mirror | News portal focused on Pune | |
| The Times of India (TOI) | News portal in English | |
| Vijaya Karnataka | News portal in Kannada | |
| Template:Anchor Samayam | Infotainment and News portal in Malayalam, Telugu, and Tamil | |
| Astrospeak | Astrology and horoscope service | |
| TimesProperty | News portal for real estate industry | |
| BaaziNow | Live video and gaming platform | |
| CouponDunia | Deals discovery platform | |
| Cricbuzz | Cricket infotainment platform | |
| Databack | Data savings service | |
| Get Me a Shop | Offline to online eCommerce service | |
| Happy Trips | Travel guide and information portal | |
| MagicBricks | Real estate listings and information portal | |
| Speaking Tree | Spirituality platform and network | |
| Taskbucks | Reward based discovery platform | |
| TechGig | Technology platform and community | |
| Times Card | Lifestyle focused credit cards | |
| Times Jobs | Jobs listings portal | |
| Times Now | TV news channel operating in India | |
| Times Prime | Digital subscriptions platform | |
| Whats Hot | Local guide to your city | |
| Willow | TV channel focused on cricket broadcast | |
| Times XP Hindi | Platform for Hindi news | |
| News Point | Content Aggregation Platform |
| Product | Description | Note |
|---|---|---|
| CricPlay | Cricket Fantasy App | Defunct |
| Dineout | Table reservation service | Acquired by Swiggy |
| ET Money | Personal money management service | Acquired by 360 One WAM |
| Gaana | Music streaming platform | Acquired by ENIL |
| MX Player | Video player and streaming platform | Acquired by Amazon |
| iDiva | Women's lifestyle portal | Acquired by Mensa Brands |
| MensXP | Men's lifestyle portal | Acquired by Mensa Brands |