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People who wanted to travel to a different city earlier had to go through a rigorous and cumbersome process of ticket booking and sorting out accommodation through offline mediums. What the country really needed was a portal that could shorten the worries of travelers through innovative travel planning products. This was when Aloke Bajpai and Rajnish Kumar founded Ixigo in 2007.
Ixigo, through its website and numerous mobile apps, wipes out the need for tourists to go through loads of information plus online travel contracts and facilitates curating a travel plan for satisfying and enjoyable experiences. It basically aggregates and then compares variants like real-time travel information in terms of prices, and the availability of flights, trains, buses, cabs, hotels, packages, and destinations.
Now with ixigo travel solutions, railway bookings, flight bookings, and the bookings of bus tickets, hotels, and more have been a cakewalk.
Read more about the ixigo app, Company Profile, ixigo travel, ixigo railways, ixigo Business Model, Revenue, ixigo Founders, Funding, Growth, logo, etc., in the article ahead.
Ixigo - Company Highlights
| Startup Name | ixigo |
|---|---|
| Headquarter | Gurgaon, Haryana, India, |
| Sector | Travel |
| Founders | Aloke Bajpai & Rajnish Kumar |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Parent Organization | Le Travenues Technology Pvt. Ltd. |
| Funding | $88.5 mn (December 2021) |
| Revenue | $47.57 mn (Rs 379.6 crore in FY22) |
| Valuation | $800 mn (July 2021) |
| Employees | 51-200 |
| Subsidiaries | AbhiBus, Confirmtkt |
| Users | 170+ million |
| Website | ixigo.com |
Ixigo - About & How it works
Ixigo - Founders and Team
Ixigo - Startup Story | How was Ixigo started?
Ixigo - Mission and Vision
Ixigo - Name, Tagline and Logo
Ixigo - Business Model and Revenue Model
Ixigo - Competitors
Ixigo - Funding and Investors
Ixigo - Acquisitions
Ixigo - Growth and Revenue
Ixigo - Partnerships
Ixigo - Awards and Achievements
Ixigo - Online and Social Media Presence
Ixigo - Future Plans
Ixigo - About & How it works
Ixigo is India's leading online plus mobile travel search plus planning website. A one-stop solution for travelers, it aggregates as well as compares the finest deals on hotels, flights, buses, trains plus packages, and reviews the best travel facts from around 100+ travel websites to extend the most reliable travel information for the users.
Accessible on Google Play Store, its train app is rated 4.3 stars by more than 1 lakh users. The unbiased exploration results plus the user-friendly interface have helped Ixigo become one of the leading travel websites in India.
The company earlier had two subsidiary applications, one of which, was known to let the brands spread out to train travelers contextually. On the other hand, the other one aided them to determine apps along with bringing deals, which were pertinent to them through advertisers' crossways e-commerce, hyperlocal service, online travel plus food delivery. Furthermore, its ixigo Trains application allowed its consumers to select the option of booking intercity ride-sharing through BlaBlaCar. This was particularly handy if the trains for a particular destination are inaccessible or if tickets are on the waiting list. Now, ixigo has added all its services in its parent app from where one can book flights, trains, buses, hotels, visas, and more on the go.
Ixigo Services
Ixigo Flight Booking Services enables the users to easily book, and monitor flights through the ixigo app or its website.
Ixigo has already acquired Confirmtkt, and with this app and its inherent app, ixigo enables fast, easy, and guaranteed booking of train tickets.
Ixigo helps the users book buses in an instant via its bus booking services, which is now available on its app itself.
For Ixigo Hotel Bookings, ixigo has partnered with Booking.com. Though Ixigo doesn't directly handle the hotel bookings, it facilitates easy and affordable booking of hotels via its partner Booking.com, where the users are redirected as soon as they click on Ixigo Hotels option.
Shubham Kumar
Ixigo - Founders
Rajnish Kumar and Aloke Bajpai are the founders of ixigo.
Aloke Bajpai
Aloke Bajpai is the Group CEO & Co-founder of Ixigo. An IIT Kanpur, Btech Electrical Engineering alumnus Aloke Bajpai obtained an MBA, General Management from INSEAD and then an MBA, Exchange from The Wharton School. Bajpai started his career as a Software Engineer at Amadeus SAS, who was eventually promoted to the post of Sr Systems and Network Engineer. He then served as the Vice President at Final Quadrant Solutions before launching ixigo in 2007.
Rajnish Kumar
Rajnish Kumar is currently known as the Group CPTO & Co-founder, who was earlier the Group CTO and Co-founder. Like Aloke, Rajnish is also an IIT Kanpur alumnus from the Computer Science & Engineering department. He also interned at ETH Zurich in Data Modelling/Warehousing and Database Administration. Rajnish also worked at Amadeus SAS as a Software Engineer and was then promoted to Sr. Software Engineer and Technical Lead. He then joined as a Director of Development at Isango! Kumar finally decided to found Travenues or Ixigo in 2007.
Ravi Shankar Gupta, the CFO of ixigo resigned due to personal reasons, as per reports dated May 4, 2022. Rahul Gautam has been appointed as the new ixigo CFO, effective from May 5, 2022. Gautam earlier led corporate finance and investor relations at PVR.
Ixigo was last reported to have close to 150 employees, in July 2020. Among these employees, half of them work in functions that include categories like technology, product engineering, and development, while one-third of them handle operations.
Ixigo - Startup Story | How was ixigo started?
The entrepreneurial bug was always there inside the IIT Kanpur wingmates-cum-colleagues, Aloke and Rajnish. However, they were somewhere trapped in the 35-hour per week work rule in the French corporate Amadeus. To disentangle themselves from the clutches of the work life, both of them decided to leave their high-paying jobs in Europe and returned to India in 2006, fully geared up to follow their dreams. They rented a studio apartment in Gurgaon and set up their workplace.
In the initial phase the ixigo founders didn't have a clue of what they were going to do with the entrepreneurial itch that they nurtured but soon they found out how painful was making travel bookings for several destinations in India. This gave them the impetus to start up with a travel meta search website for flights in India in 2007. For a year, they worked with no salaries. Over their persistence, ixigo was born.
The only passion behind the company was the vision to build a product to help Indian travelers search and compare hotel information at the same place online and make their lives relatively easier. It was launched in a nascent online travel segment that has since thrived to become one of India's most viable companies.
Vidhi Punamiya
Ixigo - Mission and Vision
"At ixigo, corporate social responsibility lies at the center of our vision and mission", says the ixigo website.
The Gurgaon-based traveltech startup mainly focuses on empowering the Indian travelers to plan, book and manage their trips effortlessly whether it is the railways, airways, roadways or hotel stays.
Ixigo - Name, Tagline and Logo
Ixigo's tagline is read out as "Know & Go."
Ixigo - Business Model and Revenue Model
Ixigo’s business model is compatible with an airport's requirements since it allows an unbiased comparison of all the available choices, aiding the travelers in deciding which website they should book through, rather than hanging midway in the deal. It mainly serves as an intermediary between the user and a travel booking website and earns commission on each booking.
Besides, the innovative features, for example, the 180-day fare viewpoint, direct booking of airline tickets through the website, and the feature-rich hotel exploration mechanism make this portal tremendously user-friendly. Ixigo’s meta-search business model associates travel contracts from 100+ travel sites and have aided millions of explorers to save time and money on their trip.
In April 2016, it also launched a meta-search application for cabs, which was initiated to generate revenue for the company. As an extension to revenue generation, the company also has an in-app booking alternative that permits the users to book on their website itself using a third-party power-driven app.
Chayanika Goswami
Ixigo - Funding and Investors
Ixigo has raised a total of $88.5 Million in funding over 6 rounds. The last round that ixigo had seen came in on July 27, 2021, where the company successfully raised $53 mn from Singapore's Wealth fund, GIC.
Here is a list of all the funding to date:
| Date | Stage | Amount | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 27, 2021 | Series C | $53 Million | GIC |
| March 22, 2017 | Series B | $15 Million | Sequoia Capital India, Fosun RZ Capital |
| November 29, 2016 | Venture Round | $10 Million | Sequoia Capital India |
| June 23, 2015 | Funding Round | $4 Million | Micromax |
| August 11, 2011 | Series A | $6 Million | SAIF Partners, MakeMyTrip |
| February 1, 2008 | Seed Round | $500K | BAF Spectrum |
Ixigo was looking forward to its IPO and had already filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) as of August 13, 2021. According to the draft it has filed with SEBI, Ixigo has disclosed its plans to raise Rs. 1,600 crores. The company is expected to raise Rs 750 crores in the primary fundraising round and another Rs 850 crores via an offer for sale (OFS) from its existing investors.
Ashwini
Ixigo - Acquisitions
Ixigo has made 5 strategic acquisitions till now. The details are divulged below:
| Date | Company | About |
|---|---|---|
| August 5, 2021 | AbhiBus | An online Indian ticket booking platform for bus, train tickets and more |
| February 4, 2021 | Confirmtkt | A one-stop destination for booking and confirmation of railway tickets |
| Jan 11, 2017 | Reach App | A mobile app for users to browse and download music, games and other content directly from their friends’ mobile devices |
| Aug 7, 2015 | Desi Backpacking Travelers | A portal where Indian and foreign backpackers share articles and photos of their trips in India |
| Aug 27, 2015 | Rutogo (Owned by Square Hoot Hikes) | A marketplace where taxi vendors from across the country are connected under a single platform |
Ixigo acquired AbhiBus on August 5, 2021, which was the latest acquisition made by the company. Sudhakar Reddy-led AbhiBus was distinguished as the second-largest bus aggregator of the country, which sold close to 26,000 bus tickets in FY20. This latest acquisition of Ixigo will certainly help in cementing the company's position in Tier 2, 3, and 4 markets.
Among the major acquisitions, Ixigo has acquired companies like Confirmtkt, Reach App, Rutogo's parent company, and more.
Ixigo - Competitors
Ixigo has a whole lot of competitors in the market. Starting from a private application like MakeMyTrip, GoIbibo to government applications like IRCTC train booking, the market is filled with online booking and transactions facilitating portals. With it, indulging in both conveyance and accommodation, the range of competitors it faces, gets doubled.
Chayanika Goswami
Ixigo - Growth and Revenue
Some of the main growth highlights of ixigo are:
- Connects over 80 million travelers
- Has 12+ million monthly active users
- Extracts deals from over 25,000 online as well as offline partners
- Generates more than 1 billion train PNRs every month.
- Has 2+ lakh scores and appraisals of trains and stations
- Boasts of a combined user base of over 255 million users
Ixigo Revenue, Financials and More
Ixigo Revenue
Ixigo's revenue from operations grew at a CAGR of 83.26% between FY19 and FY21. It has grown from INR 40.36 cr in FY19 to INR 111.6 cr in FY20, to INR 135.6 cr in FY21. The total revenue of Ixigo increased from INR 112.9 cr in FY20 to INR 138.4 cr during FY21.
The total revenue of Ixigo further witnessed a 2.8X rise to become INR 379.6 crore in FY22, while the operating revenue increased by 2.9X, to become Rs 361.92 crore in FY22.
The ticketing revenues contributed a significant (95.3%) of its total revenue. Here, Confirmtkt, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ixigo, played a major part by contributing with Rs 128.2 crore in revenues.
Revenue growth was led by a 107% increase in ticketing revenue from INR 60.9 cr in FY20 to INR 126.2 cr in FY21, which is 93% of the total revenue. ixigo has posted a profit during FY21. The profit of ixigo was recorded at INR 7.5 cr in FY21, which was earlier a loss of INR 26.6 cr in FY20.
Ixigo Expenses
Ixigo has seen a massive push in its expenses, which dramatically rose up to become Rs 402.5 crore in FY22 when compared to Rs 135.7 crore in expenses that Ixigo has registered in FY21.
Ixigo Profit Turn Back to Loss
Ixigo has posted losses of Rs 57 crore and Rs 26.6 crore in FY19 and FY20 respectively. The company has moved to profits, thereby posting profits worth Rs 7.5 crore in FY21. However, it nosedived to losses once again in FY22, where it registered Rs 21.10 crore of losses.
Ixigo - Partnerships
Ixigo partnered with a number of organisations to date. Some of its partnerships/collaborations include:
- Partnership with Flipkart to enhance the Flipkart flight bookings
- Partnership with Indira Gandhi International Airport to help the passengers with the airport's website.
- ixigo partnered with Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC), to help set-up, design, configure and maintain a ‘Unified Ticketing Solution’ (UTS) on the Cloud Platform of APSRTC.
Ixigo - Awards and Achievements
Here are some highlights of the awards and recognition that ixigo has gained thus far:
- Won the Bronze Abby at the Goa fest 2014 for its famous ‘don't travel Patti bandh ke’ television commercial
- Felicitated with a gold at the Indian Digital Media Awards (IDMA) 2014 for its PNR status app
- Received a silver Echo award in 2014 by the Direct Marketing Association International (DMAI) for the brand’s efforts in content marketing
- Has been recognized as the fastest-growing travel company in India in the Economic Times' 2020 growth champions report
- Featured in the Discover Channel's 'India Startup Stories' as a leading startup
- Declared as the winner of the New code of Work Awards in the mid-size business category
- The media company, Skift, recognized ixigo among the 6 best homegrown online travel players in the Indian travel sector
Ixigo - Online and Social Media Presence
- Facebook - 1,557,645+ followers
- Instagram - 64,600+ followers
- Twitter - 25,100+ followers
- Youtube - 71,000+ subscribers
Ixigo - Future Plans
Ixigo is currently looking for an IPO soon. It has already managed to file the DHRP with SEBI and is planning to raise close to Rs 1600 crore in funding via its IPO. It has earlier looked for an Ixigo valuation of $750-800 mn for the IPO before it filed its draft red herring prospectus.
FAQs
What is the Ixigo app?
If you are wondering about the ixigo app, then this app will help you find your travel solutions. The ixigo app will help you monitor and book flights, trains, buses, hotels, and more.
How to create account on ixigo?
Creating an ixigo account is really easy. For this, one just need to Sign up on the Ixigo website or via the Ixigo app, and then register themselves on Ixigo. After this is done, followed by some other verifications, he/she would be able to login to the Ixigo portal and go about their bookings.
Who is the Founder of ixigo?
Rajnish Kumar and Aloke Bajpai are known as the ixigo founders.
How much is the revenue of ixigo?
ixigo witnessed a growth in its revenues, which was recorded at Rs 135.6 Cr in FY21 and was earlier reported to be Rs 40.36 crore and Rs 111.6 Cr in FY19 and FY20 respectively. The revenues of Ixigo further grew to become Rs 379.6 crore in FY22.
How does ixigo make money?
Ixigo mainly serves as an intermediary between the user and a travel booking website and earns a commission per booking. Ixigo’s meta-search business model associates travel contracts from 100+ travel site
How much Funding has ixigo raised?
Ixigo has raised a total of $88.5 Million in funding over 6 rounds. Their latest funding was on July 27, 2021, from a Series C round led by GIC where it raised $53 million.
