Bigtree Entertainment, which owns the online entertainment ticketing brand BookMyShow, today announced an investment from SAIF Partners and its existing investors Accel Partners and Network18. The investors have invested Rs 1.5 billion as part of this round. 

With this round of financing, the company is looking to invest in increasing its penetration outside Tier I cities, build on its infrastructure and expand its offering in order to take its customer experience to the next level.

On signing the deal, Ashish Hemrajani, founder & CEO of BookMyShow, said ''We are very happy to have SAIF Partners as our latest investors. The common vision of creating scalable and large businesses was aligned to our thought process. Their experience of having helped companies such as MakeMyTrip and Just Dial go public would be of immense value to us as we move forward in our growth plans. We are also very happy to have delivered value to our existing investors and the fact that both Network 18 and Accel have further invested in this round, shows their confidence in the company and the ability of the team to continue delivering and innovating''

Commenting on the transaction, Sarbvir Singh from Network18 said, ''BookMyShow has emerged as the country's leading entertainment ticketing destination. The company continues to attract high pedigree investors and with SAIF Partners joining Accel Partners and Network18, the BookMyShow team will be able to further enhance customer experience and market leadership. We were happy to participate in the transaction and look forward to the next phase of the BookMyShow journey.'' 

Shares of the company gained Rs 1.6, or 2.68%, to settle at Rs 61.35. The total volume of shares traded was 85,358 at the BSE (Tuesday).