MeraNet.com gets WAP enabled, sets revenue target of Rs 6 crore

MeraNet gets WAP enabled today. This move, believes Raj Malik, director, marketing, will significantly increase the potential customer base of MeraNet

Prachi Joshi Johar

agencyfaqs!

NEW DELHI, September 13

MeraNet has set itself a revenue target of Rs 6 crore for the calendar year 2001 as the site goes WAP enabled today.

The wireless application was developed in close association with Web Wavez, a start-up focussing on wireless application and Silicon Automation System, which provided the WAP gateway. MeraNet executives claim that an investment of Rs 1 crore went in setting up of the site "of which a major portion was deployed in getting the technology infrastructure in place."

While the company brass refused to give the investments made in the WAP project, Raj Malik, director, marketing, believes that the move will significantly increase the potential customer base of MeraNet.

The WAP move comes close on the heels of MeraNet having achieved the critical mass of 1,00,000 registrants, a target which it had set for itself from the start. The site plans to customise its products to suit client needs.

Launched in April 2000 by a team of four young techno-entrepreneurs -- three IIT- IIM alumni and the fourth from the University of Minnesota -- MeraNet received its first round of funding from Ashish Dhawan and Raj Kondur, directors Chrysalis Capital, in their individual capacity. A self-updating address book in cyber space was the first product offered by the site. MeraNet now has a travel planner, a meeting scheduler and a calendar in addition to the address book, in its bundle of online product offerings.

In the current suite of products, the services MeraNet provides are all integrated. This implies that if a schedule maker is used to mark a particular date for a meeting, this would automatically get updated in the calendar too.

Explaining the strategy behind the site, Yashodeep Deodhar, director, strategy and new businesses, said, "MeraNet develops state-of-the-art contact management solutions and offers these solutions to web-portals and mobile operators as an Application Service Provider."

MeraNet's target audience comprises of mobile operators, ISPs and horizontal portals. Says Deodhar, "The idea is to develop our applications and then deploy them under client branding, which would thereby generate revenue for the site." MeraNet plans to charge its clients for these services on a "per user" basis. On an average, for a quarter, the charges would be anywhere between Rs 25 - Rs 30 per member.

Outlining the company's future plans, Deodhar said, "We are bullish about the mobile market and in terms of product development, MeraNet is working on future versions of WAP that will come into acceptance three months from now." The site, says Deodhar, will break even in 2001.

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