Shaadi.com is looking to enter matchmaking for LGBTQ+

• The company wants to get deeper into the matchmaking prospect by launching two more products in the upcoming year.
• Even though the casual dating industry is expected to record nearly half a billion revenue in 2021, Shaadi.com wants to stay away from it.
• The company also launched wedding preparation guide ‘Wedding From Home’ and video calling feature ‘ShaadiMeet’ last year.

One of the biggest matchmaking platforms in India, Shaadi.com, is on a hunt for new business opportunities in order to further enhance its business, the company’s founder and chief executive Anupam Mittal told Business Insider. No, it has nothing to do with casual dating.

The company wants to get deeper into the matchmaking prospect by launching two more products in the upcoming year. “We are planning to launch something in January, which will tilt the entire industry on its head and open up a lot of avenues for us. This is a completely new way for finding a match,” Mittal said without revealing further details.

Mittal also told Business Insider that the company will be looking forward to entering the matchmaking arena for the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) community or people living abroad.

“We see ourselves as a platform for companionship and matchmaking…That could mean for different markets, different regions, different countries, different sexes. We don’t have a problem with that. But we will significantly expand the kind of things that we do from a matchmaking context,” Mittal said.

The development comes four years after the Indian Supreme Court decriminalised same sex relationships in India.

Even though the casual dating industry has been booming and is expected to record nearly half a billion revenue in 2021, Shaadi.com wants to stay away from it. “Anything we do, we have to do with serious dating, finding a companion or finding a life partner. Not for finding a date tonight or finding the right partner. That’s not a business we are in or we want to be in,” Mittal added.

He noted that there are too many players in the space already and they are doing a good job.

Founded in 1996, Shaadi.com also runs a retail network of matchmaking centres as well. Besides this, the company also has another matchmaking platform called Sangam, which matches people based on their community.

The company also launched wedding preparation guide ‘Wedding From Home’ and video calling feature ‘ShaadiMeet’ last year to enable more users to find their matches online during the pandemic. The company claims their revenue grew nearly 25% in the last fiscal year. However, the numbers were not as high as the company had first expected.

The number of enagemements (people engaging with each other) went up by 50%, but the number of transactions did not grow at the same rate as people could not meet online.

The company competes with BharatMatrimony and InfoEdge-backed JeevanSathi.com in India.

SEE ALSO
CCI clears the way for Amazon-Future deal by revoking Future Coupon’s three-year-old deal with Amazon

INTERVIEW: Grofers founder explains why he rushed to rebrand the startup and his plans seem ambitious

Ola raises half a billion dollars in debt to fuel its food delivery and quick commerce dream