BookMyShow acquires digital entertainment firm Nfusion

Move will expand the scope of its operations beyond online movie ticketing

Online ticketing company BookMyShow has acquired Nfusion, a digital entertainment company, for an undisclosed amount in an all cash deal. The acquisition is part of BookMyShow's plans to expand the scope of its operations beyond just online movie ticketing.

Nfusion was set up in West Asia in 2009 by Shoaib G M Khan, Sivagurunathan S and Prabhakar Reddy as an HD video-on-demand platform, which allowed its users to stream videos online. BookMyShow will be using Nfusion's scalable tech solutions, especially CMS (content management system), for its foray into audio entertainment. The acquisition not just provides BookMyShow a robust tech platform but also an experienced team, which will provide a fillip to BookMyShow's audio entertainment offerings. While the Nfusion team will be headed by Shoaib, Sivagurunathan will lead the architecture and development teams at BookMyShow.

Parikshit Dar, director, BookMyShow said, "We have already established our video content vertical and are now excited to foray into audio entertainment through our offering 'Jukebox'. The Nfusion team has brought with them immense experience, innovation capability as well as expertise in building and managing scalable tech solutions. With them and our music label partners, we look forward to offering the widest variety and possibly the best curated audio content to our users."

Through Jukebox, BookMyShow already offers free music downloads to its users. Anytime users book movie tickets on BookMyShow, they are rewarded with music credits which can be redeemed to download songs on the Android or iOS app. Currently, BookMyShow offers over 1.5 million songs to choose from and has already been witnessing 300% growth month on month in the number of downloads.

To lead this vertical, BookMyShow has appointed Aditya Kuber as associate vice-president for audio entertainment. He will report to BookMyShow, chief executive and founder, Ashish Hemrajani. Kuber will be responsible for driving partnerships with music labels and distributors, creating exclusive audio content for BookMyShow users, and product marketing. He has over 17 years of experience and has a demonstrated history of working across media, publishing, digital, and advertising.

Earlier, BookMyShow had acquired Chennai-based online ticketing player TicketGreen in 2013. The company then acquired a majority stake in Bengaluru-based social media analytics start-up Eventifier in 2015 and Chennai-based fan relationship management (FRM) solutions provider, Fantain Sports Pvt Ltd in 2016. In 2017, BookMyShow acquired Hyderabad-based online movie ticketing platform MastiTickets, invested in Pune-based DIY platform Townscript and also acquired Mumbai-based local food and restaurant recommendation engine Burrp.