Client monetisation a key challenge for Matrimony.com IPO

Growth in total profiles has been volatile in recent years

Matrimony.com, which owns matrimonial classifieds portals bharatmatrimony.com, elitematrimony.com, communitymatrimony.com, assistedmatrimony.com, among others, is set to launch an initial public offering (IPO) of equity to raise Rs 500 crore. While BharatMatrimony.com's leadership position in the online matrimonial space lends comfort, there are concerns, too. 

First, its total number of profiles (or members) has been rather volatile in recent years (see table). Second, the proportion of paid members has remained in the narrow band of 23 to 24 per cent in recent years. In FY16, this shot up to 27 per cent as the total number of active profiles declined. Third, its operating