Yahoo Inc & Canaan Partners invests $8.65 Million in BharatMatrimony Group

Canaan Partners, a major international venture capital firm, today announced the funding of BharatMatrimony Group, the leading online matrimonial service in India. This is an exciting new investment by the venture firm’s India office, which opened in June. Canaan is an investor in an $8.6 million A round financing that also includes Yahoo! Inc. The investment will also be used to enhance the entire portfolio of services of BharatMatrimony Group and take them to leadership positions in their respective sectors. The other group businesses of BharatMatrimony include ClickJobs.com, IndiaProperty.com, IndiaAutomobile.com and IndiaList.com.

“The investment underscores Canaan’s ongoing commitment to early-stage Internet-related deals in India,” said Deepak Kamra, a Canaan general partner.

“Canaan was the first investor in Match.com in the United States in 1995, the first dating service in the United States.” Match.com had revenues of $250 million in 2005. Canaan was also an early investor in DoubleClick, a pioneer in Internet banner advertising.

Alok Mittal, executive director of Canaan’s Indian office, noted that BharatMatrimony portals will be supported by offices in nearly 40 Indian cities with personal computers linked to the Internet. “Dating is not a widely accepted custom for most Indians,” Mittal said. “But marriage is extremely important, and we want to help as many brides and grooms get together as possible.” Families will still have enormous sway in the ultimate selection of marriage partners, Mittal said, and parents are very involved in the whole process.

“We are very excited to be an investor in BharatMatrimony,” Mittal added. “The company is very well positioned to continue to grow rapidly and maintain its leadership in the Indian Internet landscape while continuing to be a highly valuable company from a social standpoint. The company’s services truly change the lives of millions of Indians around the world. India is one of the key markets for Canaan Partners and we are looking at creating lasting partnerships in the technology space and generate shareholder wealth over the coming years.”

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Oh yes, last few days i was into designing the press meet backdrop, media kit, etc…

Webby Certificate

Finally i received my 10th Annual Webby Awards – Certificate from NY which is signed by David-Michel Davies, Executive Director of Webby Awards. ClickJobs.com has recently launched its 2nd phase with lot many added features for Jobseekers & Employers. ClickJobs.com was selected as the Official Honoree 2006 for the 10th Annual Webby Awards.