Alibaba Group, which is owned by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, is currently holding talks to pick up a minority stake in news aggregator startup Dailyhunt, two sources familiar with the matter have claimed. These talks once again demonstrate Alibaba’s growing interest in the Indian startups, after investing in a multitude of startup firms ranging from cab hailing to food tech startups.
The Chinese Behemoth has already proposed a valuation of nearly $500 million for the news aggregator firm , one source claimed. “The talks are , however , not yet conclusive as Dailyhunt is also looking for other funding options apart from Alibaba ,” the source added and claimed further that Alibaba is planning to pick up anywhere between 10% to 12% stake.
Daily hunt, previously known as Newshunt, was founded in 2009 by two ex-Nokia executives. However, the news aggregator startup managed to come to prominence only in 2015, after Goldman Sachs Group touted the startup as the potential unicorn in the Indian startup space.
Although Dailyhunt is still very far from achieving that coveted status but boosts huge customer base as well as app download numbers. It claims that almost 50 million smartphone users spend billions of minutes every month on its app, with its app offering 100,000 news articles in as many as 14 languages. The company further claims that nearly 150 million people have downloaded its app.
Owing to its impressive numbers and tractions, the startup has managed to attract many high profile investors, including Sequoia Capital and Matrix Partners India. Its other investors include Omidyar Network, Falcon Edge, and ByteDance.
If the Alibaba deal does go through then this will be Chinese giant’s third big investment in India in less than a month.
The previous month, Alibaba led a $200 and $300 round in Zomato and BigBasket.