'Matrimonial Platforms Steadily Penetrating Cities Beyond Metros'
Along with big fat weddings, the Indian wedding market too is getting fatter by the day -- USD 130 billion at the last estimate. That’s hardly surprising as more than 10 million nuptials take place each year. But even as the wedding industry has grown in size, it has remained largely unorganised and archaic, with very few large service providers and very little or no innovation to talk of.
A standout in this space though is Betterhalf, a matchmaking platform started by MIT alumni Pawan Gupta in 2016. It boasts a monthly user base of more than a million in Tier 1 and metro cities.
From being one of the top matrimonial apps that used AI and government ID verified profiles for matchmaking and authentication, Betterhalf has today expanded into wedding services, positioning itself as a one-stop destination for everything related weddings. “Our ecosystem of marriage products — matchmaking, courtship and wedding in one super app, focused on the correct audience — urban working professionals of India with high income, located in 30 Tier 1 cities of India makes Betterhalf’s product a winning combination,” states Gupta, Co-founder and CEO, Betterhalf.
Amidst the funding winter over the last 15 to 18 months, Betterhalf took around nine months to close its USD 8.5 million series A round. “Year 2023 was really tough for startups. Startups have shown resilience and have come up beautifully strong. We have seen companies achieving profitability, and turning EBITDA positive,” says Gupta. The platform has raised USD 11 million to date.
Betterhalf’s business model is applicable to any country where matchmaking and wedding go hand in hand. The next phase of growth for Betterhalf will come from countries like Singapore, South-east Asia, China, UAS: Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.
Aiming Pan-India
The company’s revenue has grown from USD 100,000 to USD 250,000 in 12 months. The matrimonial platforms are steadily penetrating cities beyond metros. However, the traditional setup of finding partners in the far-flung corners remains a major roadblock for Betterhalf and other startups in the space.
The platform shares that its core business–matchmaking–has a positive contribution margin, whereas the wedding business is growing rapidly at 100 per cent every quarter, while the overall business is growing at 50 per cent. It expects an annualised revenue of USD 10 million in 18 months.
As to the journey ahead, Gupta says, “The signal has been positive now. Startups that have turned profitable, PAT, EBITDA positive while maintaining the growth are at a great say. We should focus on building the company and keep growing the revenue. We should consider it as a first check-box as an entrepreneur. Rest is the by-product."
He adds, If you focus on consumers, building the right product, driving value you can see your revenue up. As long as your revenue is growin and you are not burning excessive cash, you are in a good position.
