Technology
PictureTime digiplex raises Rs. 25 Crore in Pre Series A funding led by Ajay Relan of CX Partners
The mobile movie theatre start-up offers a high quality movie experience at affordable prices in rural areas
Funding will be used to expand PictureTime’s mobile Digiplex cinema theatres to 100 operational units by March 2019
Mumbai, 7th March 2018 – India’s first mobile digital movie theatre (MDMT) start-up, PictureTime has secured Rs 25 crores at an undisclosed valuation in a Pre Series A financing round from a group of HNIs led by Ajay Relan , Founder Chairman CX Partners. This follows the initial seed funding by Picture Time Chairman Mr. Rohit Chand, Ashish Gupta and Sanjeev Agrawal of Helion Ventures, Asim Ghosh (ex- Vodafone India CEO) and Abhinav Sinha of Eight Road Ventures.
The funding will be used to expand PictureTime’s mobile digiplex cinema theatres to 100 operational units by March 2019, making it one of the largest cinema operators in the country. Picture Time has created a unique, one-of-a-kind mobile digiplex cinema theatre unit with a fireproof inflatable canopy that can accommodate 120 viewers. Within two hours the air-conditioned mobile digiplex cinema theatre is fully functional, complete with seating arrangements and world-class digital projectors with surround sound for a high quality cinema experience. Tickets are priced in the range of Rs 30/- to Rs 50/-.
The outside areas of the digiplex are converted into a local food court and entertainment and gaming activities giving audiences in small semi-urban and rural areas accessibility to a multiplex cinematic experience. The mobile digiPlex cinema theatres also create digital marketplaces equipped with multiple facilities in the locations they visit. By creating 100-meter-wide intranet sites, they also provide facilities like Wi-Fi hotspot and micro ATMS facilitating villagers to make bank transactions or mandatory Aadhaar linkages.
Speaking on the new round of funding, Mr. Sushil Chaudhary, the founder and CEO of PictureTime said, “Our aim is to use technology to not only provide high quality entertainment to rural India, but to also use our mobile digiplex cinema theatres as an outreach vehicle to generate awareness on educational and government schemes on initiatives around Digital India, Skill India and Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan. We are also trying to curb the problems of piracy in remote rural areas by releasing new movies simultaneously in the locations we are present in.”
Speaking on the business model and scalability of PictureTime, Mr. Ajay Relan, Founder Chairman, CX Partners said “Picture Time provides unique dual benefits to the rural population of India – a state of the art cinema experience as well as an outreach medium for both social messaging and private advertising all under one umbrella. By offering low cost mobile cinema halls, the venture will help address the severe cinema theatre crunch by increasing the screen count in remote parts of the country.”
Established in October 2015 PictureTime introduced mobile digiplex cinema theatres in an effort to increase the number of cinema screens in India. Picture Time is currently operating 10 mobile digiplex cinema theatre units and has so far showcased movies in remote villages of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The mobile digiplex cinema theatres also offer government and private organizations the perfect outreach vehicle to promote their schemes to the rural population at large.
