The Hindu Business Line : Seventymm raises Rs 50 cr for expansion

New Delhi, Aug. 20 Movie rental company Seventymm has raised Rs 50 crore in funding with plans to expand to 40 cities in two years. This new round of funds from venture capital NEA-Indo US Ventures, takes the VC-funded company’s total capital investment to Rs 90 crore now.

According to Mr Subhanker Sarker, COO-Seventymm, most of the investment will go into expanding the reach of the business and hiring people to deliver the movies picked from their Web site and provide customer service, even offering advice on the choice of movies. Currently, it has a team if 400 people serving consumers in its six cities of Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi and Chandigarh.

The business, which claims a consumer base of 70,000 people and is adding 7000 consumers a month, has an average revenue per user of Rs 250, says Mr Sarker. It aims to reach four million members in next five years with a presence in 40 cities in two years. On the immediate roadmap are Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Pune.

Seventymm.com offers more than 18,000 titles covering Hindi, English, 11 regional languages, World Cinema as well as television programmes and documentaries. That is likely to go up to 25,000 titles in a year with the addition of both new releases and old movies. Mr Shanker expects content cost to stabilise as the home entertainment business grows. Reliance ADAG’s Big Flicks is also a player, however, unlike Big Flicks which also has a retail side of the business, Seventymm plans to serve its customers from it Web site. It has also started ‘Hangout with Movies’ a social networking space which it believes will have movie-loving Indians well engaged.

With this funding, Ms NEA Indo-US Ventures’ MD Ms Vani Kola will also be joining the Seventymm board. NEA-Indo US Ventures is a VC fund co-founded by Mr Vinod K Dham and Ms Kola.

More Stories on : Strategy | Venture Capital | Entertainment & Leisure | Cinema

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Seventymm raises Rs 50 cr for expansion

Maruti Suzuki has a strategy for the future, says Bhargava

Accounting for customer loyalty schemes

Companies use extended warranty to woo customers

LiveJournal unveils writing contest

Retail sector sees big ticket exits

TRAI seeks regulation over television content

‘Spice Telecom brand will cease to exist’

Online travel advisor

Idea dials into Mumbai