Excl: Dating site TrulyMadly in advanced talks to raise $5M from Helion

Truly Madly Matchmakers Pvt Ltd., which owns and operates dating site TrulyMadly.com, is in advanced talks to raise $5 million in its Series A round of funding from Helion Venture Partners, a source privy to the development told Techcircle.in.

When contacted, Rahul Kumar, co-founder, TrulyMadly, declined to divulge any details about the development, adding that the company is in talks with many people and hasn't closed the round yet. "We will let you know when we get a confirmation," Kumar told Techcircle.in.

An e-mail sent to Helion elicited no response.

Founded in 2014 by the trio of Kumar, Hitesh Dhingra and Sachin Bhatia, the startup helps urban individuals find their right partner. While Kumar and Bhatia are ex-MakeMyTrip employees, Dhingra was previously the founder and CEO of LetsBuy.com (acquired by Flipkart.com). Kumar has completed his MS in computer science from The University of Texas, the US; while Dhingra holds an MBA degree from UBS.

According to the company, it is different from regular matrimony sites such as BharatMatrimony.com and Shaadi.com, where parents actually make profiles of their children. The platform is for new-age professionals and ensures that they find their partners based on their intelligence and interests rather than based on caste, creed and family background. It also aims at removing that awkwardness among users who are looking for a partner.

This space has been attracting lots of investor interest in the recent past. Earlier this month, Aisle Network Pvt Ltd, which runs a matchmaking site for urban Indians under the same name, raised $100,000 in seed funding from a group of angel investors, including Anand Vijay of Microsoft and Shashank Mehrotra of BigRock, among others.

Delhi & Singapore-based Thrill Pte Ltd, a mobile dating startup which runs its apps on Android and iOS under the Thrill banner, also raised an undisclosed amount from People Group, which owns matrimonial portal Shaadi.com, for a significant minority stake in January this year.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)