Exclusive: India’s leading online travel company MakeMyTrip.com (MMT) has received third second round of venture capital funding. The investment is led by Helion Venture Partners and Sierra Ventures and joined by return backers SAIF Partners.  The investment is in “early teens”, which means anywhere between $10-15 million. When contacted, Ravi Adusumalli, General Partner at SAIF Partners, and also a board member at MMT, confirmed the development. An announcement is expected this week.
In May 2005, MMT received $10 million from SAIF Partners in the second round funding mainly to bankroll its India launch. MMT, founded by Deep Kalra, kicked off its operations with $1 million investment from e-Ventures in October 2000. The company had focused on India-US corridor for five years after its launch, and made an India entry only in September 2005.
Indian online travel space has become highly competitive with several VC-backed firms fighting for a share of the market, besides others. Yatra Online has received funding from Reliance Capital, Norwest Venture Partners (NVP), and the Television 18 group. Cleartrip.com is funded by Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers and Sherpalo Ventures, while Travelguru.com received investment of $10 million from Sequoia Capital India.