Times Internet acquires Blume-backed personal finance platform Moneysights

Times Internet Ltd, the digital arm of BCCL (parent of The Times of India), has acquired Bangalore-based RupeeStreet Financial Services Pvt Ltd, the company behind the online personal finance platform Moneysights which was shut down in September 2012.

Post the acquisition, RupeeStreet will be operated as a separate entity under the leadership of its co-founder Mukesh Kalra, and Times Internet will continue to develop the platform. However, it is not immediately clear if Times Internet is planning to relaunch the site. We have contacted the company for more details, and will update the story as and when we get its responses.

"When we were building Moneysights a few years ago, we realised that while we had a strong product and a great team, key levers for success in the personal finance space were missing – a brand which exudes trust, a distribution channel with access to large captive audience and a partner with a longer-term vision. With Times, all the three levers get completed and hence we have this unique chance to build a hugely successful business in this space," said Kalra.

RupeeStreet, a consumer internet firm in the financial services domain, was founded in April 2009 by Kalra along with Santosh Navlani, who had previously worked at InMobi. The site was launched in May 2011 with a B2B subscription model, and later transitioned into a consumer-focused transaction-based model.

RupeeStreet had raised an undisclosed amount in funding from Prasad Duvvuri, head of service delivery (India media and entertainment) at IBM, and InMobi's Naveen Tewari in early 2010. This was followed by a fresh round of $270,000 led by Blume Ventures, with participation from Tewari in February last year.

The site will compete with various online lead aggregators and financial products comparison sites such as Sequoia Capital- and JAFCO Asia-backed ApnaPaisa.com and PolicyBazaar.com. Other sites operating in the domain include BankBazaar.com, MyInsuranceClub.com, InsuranceMall.in, ApnaInsurance.com and Peacock Financial Advisors' Getmeinsure.com.

"The startup hit upon a key consumer need: a smarter and more transparent way to manage your money. This was Moneysights' goal when it started, and we are happy to work together to actualise that vision," said Satyan Gajwani, CEO of Times Internet.

Last year, Times Internet had made three acquisitions including DineOut and CouponDunia, besides six global partnerships, four minority investments and over 20 investments in startups through its accelerator TLabs.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)