Info Edge CEO Hitesh Oberoi on Toostep acquisition, Internet as an investment opportunity & more

Info Edge (India) Ltd, which runs the recruitment site Naukri.com and other classifieds like matrimonial site Jeevansathi.com and real estate portal 99acres.com, has announced the acquisition of Toostep Consultancy Pvt Ltd, on a slump sale basis. Toostep, a technology company, has developed a software as a service (SaaS) platform that enables recruiters to promote jobs on social networking sites and search engines as well as manage the response received.

Infoedge had been very active on the investment front as well. Late last month, the company invested Rs 12.86 crore ($2.3 million) more in Zomato Media Pvt Ltd that runs Zomato.com (a site providing restaurant reviews, ratings and advertisements), taking its total investment in Zomato to Rs 31.06 crore and its total holding to 48.5 per cent. In the same month, the company also invested Rs 5 crore ($0.9 million) in online private sales portal 99labels.com, taking its total investment in the company to around $4.5 million. Prior to that, the company invested $6.5 million (Rs 35 crore) in Bangalore-based online photography company Canvera Digital Technologies Pvt Ltd.

In a quick chat with VCCircle, Hitesh Oberoi, MD and CEO, InfoEdge, talks on the strategy behind this latest acquisition and the company's investment plans.

What are the synergies between Toostep and Infoedge that led to the acquisition?

Toostep is an Accel-funded company and the SaaS solution that it has developed is a top class recruitment solution. The recruitment agency can post jobs at multiple locations and store all applications at one place as well. So with all these features it is almost like a recruitment ERP. We really liked the product and team and of course it fits well with Naukri's sensibilities thus the acquisition.

What are the immediate plans post the acquisition?

There is a two-pronged strategy here. Firstly, we will support the existing product as such and secondly it will be integrated with Naukri. Apart from that, we will also be looking at new products that can be developed with Toostep's expertise since the team has joined us. The first task however will be to integrate TooStep with Naukri.

So, by when do we see this integration coming along?

There would be various additions to Naukri's features over a period of time. Some features might be added in next few months and some might take up to a year. You can say that we will integrate and roll out the features of Toostep's solution on Naukri in the next 6-12 months.

Will Toostep's solution exist as an independent product as well?

Yes, Toostep's solution is a successful product in market with a lot of users so it will continue to exist as a standalone entity as well.

Infoedge has been very active in investments this year. What more can we expect in terms of investments and acquisitions?

We see internet as a great investment opportunity and you will keep hearing from us in terms of investments. Naukri is a profitable venture and 99acres and Shiksha are also doing well so we keep an eye for good ventures to invest into. Though we look for good teams and there is no sector focus as such, we are  bullish on the internet sector.

(Edited by Prem Udayabhanu)