Founded in 2000 by Deep Kalra, Keyur Joshi, Rajesh Magow, and Sachin Bhatia, MakeMyTrip is India’s top online travel company. Based in Gurugram, the company offers a range of online travel services, covering flight tickets, domestic and international holiday packages, hotel reservations, as well as rail and bus tickets.
The inception
MakeMyTrip’s origin story centers around its founder, Deep Kalra, who embarked on an entrepreneurial journey after leaving his banking job at ABN AMRO. Kalra initially ventured into bringing AMF Bowling to India but struggled to secure funding, leading to a parting of ways. Subsequently, he joined GE Capital, where he discovered the potential of the internet and its vast possibilities.
Selling his wife’s car online further solidified his belief in online businesses. Kalra’s next revelation came when he observed the inconvenience of people waiting in long ticket queues. This inspired him to establish MakeMyTrip in 2000, with the goal of simplifying online ticket bookings and offering competitive prices by eliminating intermediaries.
Services offered
MakeMyTrip Limited offers services such as air ticketing, hotel bookings, holiday planning, rail ticketing, bus ticketing, car rentals, and ancillary travel services. The company’s customer-centric approach and commitment to continuous innovation have propelled it to a leading position in India’s travel market.
MakeMyTrip employs a significant team of data scientists and utilizes chatbots, like Gia for Goibibo and Myra for MakeMyTrip, for customer support and sales. Additionally, MakeMyTrip has expanded into the corporate travel sector through MyBiz.
Funding secured
MakeMyTrip has raised a total of $748 million in funding across multiple rounds, commencing with a $10 million Series A funding from Tiger Fund in 2005. Subsequent rounds included $13 million in 2006 and $15 million in Series C funding in 2007. In 2016, MakeMyTrip launched its IPO, raising $180 million, and conducted another IPO in 2017, securing $330 million. The company’s most recent funding activity was a Post-IPO debt round in February 2021, which amounted to $200 million.
The business model
MakeMyTrip’s business model encompasses services like air and bus ticket bookings, holiday packages, hotel reservations, and vehicle rentals, all available through its app, website, or stores. It also offers additional travel-related services such as visa processing and travel insurance from third-party providers.
In addition to its B2C operations, MakeMyTrip introduced MyBiz to provide corporate travel services, simplifying employee travel management. The company’s revenue is nearly evenly divided between ticketing and tours & hotel bookings.
Hotel bookings and packages, a higher-margin segment than airline ticketing, are the primary revenue drivers, constituting 56% of net revenue. MakeMyTrip holds a 24% market share in domestic flight ticketing, making it a market leader in the sector.
The growth
Since its inception, MakeMyTrip has significantly revolutionized the travel and booking landscape, simplifying and expediting the process for both its customers and the entire nation. Key growth highlights include a presence in 14+ cities with company-owned travel stores and 30+ cities with franchisee-owned stores.
The company operates counters at four major airports in India and has international offices in several global cities. MakeMyTrip offers access to an extensive selection of 50,000+ hotels and villas. Additionally, in the post-pandemic era, the company emphasizes its commitment to assisting users with 100% refunds on cancellations.
In FY22, MakeMyTrip’s revenue witnessed substantial growth, surging from $163.4 million to $303.9 million. The recovery of the travel and tourism sector, following the pandemic’s abatement, played a pivotal role in this upturn.
Notably, revenue from air-ticketing increased by 55.6% to reach $88.7 million, while revenue from hotels and packages saw significant growth of 131.4%, reaching $157.3 million. Moreover, the company transformed its adjusted loss of $18 million in FY21 into an adjusted operating profit of $23.2 million in FY22.
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