Anupam Mittal, a judge on Shark Tank India and founder of the matchmaking platform Shaadi.com, recently disclosed the substantial amount he paid for acquiring the Shaadi.com domain. Mittal revealed that this transaction occurred in the late 1990s, when his company had $30,000 in its account. Out of that sum, they decided to allocate $25,000 towards purchasing the domain, believing it would yield favourable results in the long term. He also mentioned that prior to Shaadi.com, they operated Sagai.com.
During a recent interview, Mittal recounted, “We had a company, where we provided IT solutions to other companies. So there we started Sagaai.com, which was the precursor to Shaadi.com. We had saved about $30,000 in our company. We were getting Shaadi,com domain for about $25,000. $25,000 or $30,000 seemed exorbitant but I believed that without a domain that can become ubiquitous, that can become known for the category, it’ll be tough and this will make our lives easier. So we used all our money.”
When asked about potential investments in dating apps and whether he missed out on creating one, the Shark Tank judge expressed skepticism about the profitability of the dating app industry in India. He noted that platforms like Tinder and Bumble, among others, haven’t made significant strides in the Indian market.
“Their revenues are relatively modest, and the Indian dating scene is heavily skewed. Women typically have an abundance of options, resulting in a few men receiving most of the attention while others struggle to engage. Many men resort to making inappropriate remarks, driving women away. Therefore, I don’t believe there’s substantial profit to be made,” he remarked.
Contrary to popular belief that matchmaking sites are less popular among millennials, Mittal emphasized that Shaadi.com predominantly caters to this demographic. “The notion that millennials aren’t utilizing matchmaking sites is incorrect. In fact, the majority of our user base consists of millennials,” he clarified.
