New Delhi, June 22: Micromax Informatics, the country's second-largest smartphone player, today said it had made a strategic investment in mobile travel search company Ixigo.
The move is part of the handset maker's plan to create a connected mobile services ecosystem for its devices.
The companies did not disclose details of the equity stake involved. However, sources said Micromax had picked up a significant minority stake.
"This investment will further reinforce Micromax's foray into application services after having pioneered democratisation of technology by delighting consumers with its affordable and innovative product offerings. It will also give Ixigo a reach of over 30 million incremental users over the next year," the companies said in a joint statement.
Last month, Micromax had announced that it would invest up to $20 million in over 20 start-ups in the coming year. The company has set up an M&A team, which has been sourcing and working with start-ups across major technology markets such as the US, Europe, Israel and India to bring in the best products and capabilities.
In May, Micromax had also made a strategic investment in HealthifyMe, a digital fitness provider, which specialises in mobile focused services to motivate people towards healthy behaviour.
"We look forward to working closely with them (Ixigo team) to build on-demand and one-click travel experiences for Micromax consumers," said Rahul Sharma, co-founder of Micromax Informatics, adding that the company will announce more such partnerships over the next few months.
Ixigo aims to provide travel services to the next 300 million smartphone users and has recently entered the budget hotel, package and cab segments. It plans to use this investment to expand its product and technology teams and add 25,000 small and mid-sized travel service providers to its marketplace offering.
"We share a common vision of a connected ecosystem of travellers who can access and consume travel content ubiquitously on their phone and compare and book across a bouquet of travel service providers seamlessly. This partnership with Micromax will strengthen our market leadership in mobile travel services for middle class users. We expect to quadruple our mobile user base in the next 12 months," Aloke Bajpai, CEO and co-founder of Ixigo, said.
