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Yatra on buying spree, acquires Buzzintown.com
MUMBAI: In an effort to expand its customer base, online travel portal Yatra.com has acquired events and entertainment portal Buzzintown.com.
This is its third acquisition in 15 months. It is estimated that the travel portal will expand its customer base by three million registered users through this acquisition.
Yatra.com co-founder and CEO Dhruv Shringi said, “Buzzintown will enable Yatra.com to provide its customers an enhanced experience by sourcing special deals for the destinations they are traveling to. Our focus is on increasing our portfolio of internet services for our customers, and investing in product development and innovation through
both organic and inorganic means.”
Buzzintown.com’s Amitabh Saran, who will continue as CEO, said, “We get millions of visitors with a common interest for alternate options of entertainment where a large majority of these surfers like to be outdoors and explore newer destinations. With this acquisition, Buzzintown customers will now be able to even plan and book their travel with Yatra.com.”
Buzzintown is an events and entertainment portal providing listings, content, deals and services across numerous events and happenings in the world and will continue to operate under the same brand name. It provides information on an array of events, including videos, venue details, artiste profiles, groups, and other stakeholders of the event industry.
Buzzintown has presence in over 19 Indian cities, and 16 cities across USA and Canada, Buzzintown. It is reported that this acquisition will help catalyse the expansion of Yatra.com’s portfolio giving customers the access to services beyond travel.
Previously, Yatra.com acquired ticket consolidator Travel Services International (TSI) to strengthen its foray into the B2B consolidation space. In July 2011, Yatra.com acquired hotel aggregation company, MagicRooms, offering access to a live inventory of over 3,000 hotels across India.
In April 2011, the online travel portal had received a funding of Rs 2 billion from venture capital firms Valiant Capital Management, Norwest Venture Partners (NVP), and Intel Capital. Interestingly, Buzzintown is also backed by Intel Capital.
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
