Instamojo acquihires entertainment start-up Showman

Instamojo, a full-stack solutions provider for MSMEs, has announced its first acquihire of Bengaluru-based virtual theatre and vernacular content platform – Showman. This will see the on-boarding of the founding member team of Showman.

Akash Gehani, Co-founder and COO, Instamojo, said the acquihire of Showman is a first for Instamojo and comes at a time when the company is evolving to move to the next level. “We are happy to have both Kshitij and Rutveez join our team, bringing their experience and knowledge in the product and consumer space, along with their entrepreneurial spirit. This acquihire will help Instamojo strengthen its product and tech prowess as we continue to innovate across multiple categories and achieve our vision of being the most trusted platform for MSMEs to start their business online.”

Kshitij Bhatawdekar, Founder, Showman, said as an entertainment-focused platform, the company has deep insights into the users of India. “When we spoke to Instamojo, we realized our insights can drive real impact for the MSME space of India. Both Rutveez and I are excited and looking forward to beginning this new phase of our journey with Instamojo. We are also thankful to the Passion Connect team which connected us with team Instamojo and helped lead the entire acquisition process in a seamless manner.”

Sanam Rawal, Lead Talent Advisor at Passion Connect, and Swati Gupta, Lead Acquihiring at Passion Connect, said that when they first spoke to Kshitij, they saw a spark – a drive to solve real world problems faced by the people of India. “While Showman was a great product, we absolutely loved their talent and saw potential in their vision. Since we have keen insights into Blume Ventures portfolio companies, we felt that this is exactly what Instamojo is looking for in a team. Once we introduced Kshitij to Akash, the Co-founder at Instamojo, there was no looking back. We wish both teams abundant success in their goal to make products that positively impact the lives of millions of Indians.”

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The Instamojo platform offers products and solutions which enable small businesses to achieve digital independency. Through the pandemic, the company introduced several products to address the timely need of small businesses that were grappling to survive, and consequently recorded a 25% growth in merchant base. Early last year, the company acquired GetMeAShop (GMAS), an e-commerce enablement firm backed by Times Internet, and closed its Pre-Series C round of funding later in 2020.