Neelima Marupuru and Aditya Vuchi, batchmates at a local engineering college, went to the US 20 years ago to pursue higher studies and build a career. After his studies and a brief stint at an IT company, Aditya was deputed by the company to scale up operations in India in 2008.

MediaMint was set up in 2010 at an investment of ₹3 lakh in Hyderabad. Today, Brightcom Group, a global player in digital marketing and solutions space, has acquired MediaMint for a cash-stock deal worth ₹566 crore.

“We got married in 2008, stayed in the US for a year, and came back in 2009. We saw a huge opportunity in the digital marketing space and decided to set up the company in 2010,” Aditya, Co-Founder of MediaMint, told BusinessLine .

The firm offers services in digital marketing services, production, optimisation of digital media campaigns and analytics.

During the 11-year-old journey, the size of the team went up to 1,400 from just two. The duo have never gone in for fund-raising. At the time of acquisition, the company has projected a revenue of ₹187 crore for 2021-22. Aditya still remembers the first project he won from a US client.

“I went to the US, convinced them to give us the project. Neelima, a computer science graduate, did the coding, while I took care of the product management and client communication,” he said.

No smooth journey

It has not been a smooth journey for the couple. “We grew slowly, building a team and making them believe in our story. There are people that are travelling with us for the last 8-9 years,” he said.

The team did get rewarded. “We are going to get part of the proceeds from the acquisition. Our share in the total proceeds could well be up to 20 per cent,” said a senior employee, wishing anonymity.

Post-acquisition, Neelima and other members of MediaMint’s core team will continue to drive the business. “We have built a strong, cohesive culture at the company. My focus will be to ensure it is solidified as we joined Brightcom and take it to the next level,” said Neelima. Aditya says he will help in the transition and move on to pursue other ventures.