Indian news media publishing company Indian Express has invested an undisclosed amount in four tech-based startups, first reported by VCCircle.
New Delhi headquartered publication house has invested in PayMango, Mister Homecare Services, Envoged and Spiral Content Solutions.
Notably, Indian Express had earlier invested in Chaldal, Bangladesh's largest online grocery delivery company.
The company is following its peers such as Bennett, Coleman & Company Ltd, popularly known as Times Group, which is actively invests in Indian startups and has self-run digital properties such as MagicBricks.com through its Times Internet Ltd arm and also has startup accelerator called TLabs. Other media companies such as NDTV and HT Media Ltd have also invested to create their own digital ventures as an offshoot of their content businesses.
Founded in 1932, the media house publishes several widely circulated dailies including The Indian Express and The Financial Express in English, the Loksatta in Marathi and the Jansatta in Hindi. Its weekly entertainment magazine Screen, covering Indian film industry, also has a popular following.
Gurgaon-based startup PayMango India Pvt Ltd, which runs a mobile marketplace platform for local businesses to manage and market their customer base, was founded by IIT Delhi graduates Gajinder Singh and Ram Singla in June and had previously raised more than Rs 1 crore.
"For the country to reap benefits of the internet we need a Yumist, Grofers or UrbanClap in each locality. That’s how PayMango is providing local commerce wings to fly," said Anant Goenka, director, The Indian Express Pvt Ltd.
Mumbai-based Mister Homecare Services Pvt Ltd which runs web portal MrHomeCare.in, a we-based on-demand maintenance services for retail consumers and businesses. Founded in 2015 by brothers Rushabh and Sahil Vora the company is looking to build a strong back end to service the aggregators in the on-demand home services space, said co-founder and CEO Rushabh. Catering to Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore markets, it plans to expand its operations to Delhi and other markets soon.
Headquartered in Mumbai, Envoged is a social marketplace to shop and sell pre-owned luxury fashion. Its a curated social community bringing girls in India together to sell and shop clothes and accessories from their personal closets. The platform is a one stop solution to renew your closet regularly with this colossal marketplace to shop from & sell into, and be in vogue with the latest trends.
Envoged was founded in 2014 by Anandita Singh and Manisha Barnwal, both IIT-Kharagpur alumnus, along with Saahil Narang.
"Envoged makes luxury fashion affordable for the aspirational consumer in India," said founder Anandita Singh.
Spiral Content Solutions Pvt Ltd is another Mumbai-based startup funded by Indian Express. It is a content marketplace that curates Indian and international content and makes it available for brands to use on social media and other digital platforms.
Its first product, launched in January 2015 is Scatter. Scatter is a platform that brings a fresh stream of content and makes it easy for brands to use that content on their own community assets.
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