Yahoo confirms purchase of Indian tech startup Bookpad

BANGALORE: Yahoo confirmed on Monday that it has purchased Bookpad, an Indian document viewing tech startup, in a bid to bolster its email service.

The US internet giant didn’t disclose the purchase price, but two people with direct knowledge of the development said it paid around Rs 50 crore ($8.3 million) for Bookpad.

“We have acquired Bookpad, the company behind the Docspad product,” said a Yahoo spokeswoman in response to a query from ET.

Bookpad has become the first Indian startup to be bought by Yahoo. The Bangalore-based firm which is competing with large companies like Google and Crocodoc in document viewing will help Yahoo to strengthen its free email service Yahoo mail.

“The team will join our communications organisation in Bangalore, where they will work on strengthening the Yahoo Mail experience,” said Yahoo spokeswoman.

The news about the Yahoo deal was earlier reported by ET. Founded by IIT-Guwahati alumni Niketh Sabbineni, Aditya Bandi and Ashwik Reddy — friends in their early twenties — Bookpad has gained an international reputation for developing a product like Google Docs.

The product enables customers create and format text documents online and also collaborate with other people in real time. But what differentiates the firm from global competitors is that it allows enterprises to modify the product as per their needs and promote their brand.

"Wins like these are important,” said Google India managing director and top angel investor Rajan Anandan. “Indian companies like Bookpad are focused on specific problems. They have strong technology, traction and can compete and scale globally.”