India’s Just Dial Search Engine Files For IPO, Expects to Raise $80 Million

India’s ‘number one local search’ destination Just Dial has filed for an IPO, in which the company is expected to raise about $80 million.

The search engine is unique in that it can be accessed not only via the internet, but also by voice call and SMS as well. It has a strong network in India spread across 240 cities, with a customer base of over 57 million unique users. Just Dial’s local search traffic in India has been found to be the highest amongst other local search engine sites according to a comScore report (see chart below).

The voice search engine had also launched its services in North America, entering the US market recently. It also plans to expand its services in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. In these countries, Just Dial services will be offered through a 24×7 operator at a toll-free number. The services will include search for movies and theaters, events, restaurants, hotels and limited local search.

Courtesy of comScore

The IPO filing comes at a surprising time when the country is experiencing a downfall in the stock market. Nevertheless, Just Dial is expected to be the largest Indian IPO in the US when compared with the travel portal MakeMyTrip, which made $70 to $80 million in its initial public offering, in 2010.

Other homegrown websites like Naukri.com and 123greetings.com have raised about $38 million (Rs. 174Cr.) and about $12 million (Rs. 53.65Cr.) in 2006 and 2010 in their respective IPOs.

On the start-up side of the size scale, Just Dial has some measure of competition from companies like offline search SMSGyan, which has quickly amassed just over 1.5 million users in India.

To learn more about Just Dial, check out this video report from last year by CNN.