Nandini Hirianniah and Madhouse's Online Movie Rental Business in India

15:52 | Kamla Bhatt | Jan 22nd, 2007 3:45pm |

Online movie rentals are turning out to be a big business in India. This may not be that surprising, considering the sheer volume of movies produced in India each year, but it still represents a lot of money, and a lot of potential for growth.

All that potential is what helped the founders of the movie rental company Madhouse Media get through the difficult first few stages of developing their business, beginning in 2004, when they started in the city of Chandigarh, Punjab.

Within months, they realized that they had a viable business model and decided to seek funding. In December 2006, MadHouse received their first round of investment from angel investors in India and moved their company to New Delhi.

The mission of Madhouse Media, as Co-Founder Nandini Hirianniah puts it, is to transform the way consumers choose and watch films at home (in India). One of the challenges for Madhouse has been finding a hybrid strategy combining online possibilities and offline realities. By focusing on front stores and mobile phones, the start-up aims to maximize ways in which customers can order their favorite movies.

Currently, the MadHouse Media service is limited to a few cities in India, but ...