Travel app ixigo acquires train booking platform Confirmtkt

Online travel aggregator ixigo has acquired online train discovery and booking platform Confirmtkt for an undisclosed amount across a mix of cash and ixigo stock. The company made the announcement on Thursday. The two companies will continue to run independently, post this acquisition, ixigo said. The founders of ixigo will join the Confirmtkt board and existing investors of Confirmtkt, including Venture Catalysts, will be exiting the company fully as a part of the deal.

Both ixigo and Confirmtkt are official IRCTC B2C (business-to-customer) ticketing partners for online train reservations in India.

This deal will help the group to consolidate its presence in tier 2/3/4 markets.

"By leveraging our combined user base, resources, and tech expertise we will be able to enhance the experience of millions of train travellers in India every day," Aloke Bajpai and Rajnish Kumar, Co-Founders, ixigo said in a joint statement."The combined entity will have a scale of 35 million monthly active users."

Confirmtkt was established in 2015 by Dinesh Kumar Kotha and Sripad Vaidya. The company recorded revenue of Rs 21.4 crore and an operating profit of Rs 1.54 crore in FY20.

Train travel in India is an $8 billion market, with over 25 million passengers taking a train trip every day, pre-COVID, ixigo said