BigDecisions.com adds 700K users post acquisition

Personal financial planning portal BigDecisions.com claims to have added 700,000 more users after it was acquired by News Corp in December last year.

With the addition of new users, the company said it has touched a key milestone of helping 900,000 users make informed financial decisions, it said in a statement.

"Sources of financial empowerment based on unbiased information and smart analytics have been few and far between in India. The quality of content, the wealth of impartial data backed insights and the ease of use make it an engagement worthy experience for our users who see immense value in our offerings," said Manish Shah, co-founder and CEO, BigDecisions.com.

New York-headquartered global media giant News Corp had acquired FinDirect Services Pvt Ltd, the company behind BigDecisions.com, in December 2014.

The deal happened in less than a month after News Corp acquired 25 per cent stake in PropTiger.com, a real estate marketing platform, for $30 million. Later, News Corp raised its stake in PropTiger.com to 30 per cent.

"The early response to BigDecisions.com validates our belief that Indian consumers are looking for unbiased and accurate advice, as well as user-friendly calculators. A vibrant digital India needs financially empowered citizens who can rely on trusted sources in their journey to financial prosperity," said Raju Narisetti, senior vice-president, strategy at News Corp.

BigDecisions was launched in early 2013 by Shah and Gaurav Roy. It helps Indian consumers make smarter financial decisions through interactive decision-making tools. It claims to be delivering unbiased information and analysis to consumers on topics such as life and health insurance, retirement planning, child education as well as buying and renting real estate.

It advises users on retirement and education of their children in addition to assessing their life and health insurance needs and helping them benefit from transferring home loans. The platform also helps users decide whether to rent or buy a home using Big Data. The platform has decision-making tools and related content for six categories such as education, life insurance, health insurance, housing, home loans and retirement.

The company claims that the majority of its users currently come from the top eight cities of India.

As part of its roadmap, BigDecisions plans to combine its data-backed insights with peer-to-peer shared user experiences (for instance, "people similar to you did this") to enhance decision making for its users, as well as work with banking, asset management, insurance and other financial services companies in India to create tailored solutions aimed at educating and empowering users, the company said.

The parent of VCCircle Network—whose business lines include subscription data products, events, training programmes and a subscription-led news website and app focused on the startup ecosystem as well as business at large in India—was acquired by News Corp in March.