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Prizedjobs -- A dotcom on its own feet

Rukmini Priyadarshini

BANGALORE, Sept. 13

`WE'RE not another `vague' Web site; we have a viable revenue model.'' This claim by Prizedjobs.com is strengthened by its move to postpone its IPO plan, fund its expansion programme from internal resources and look at a second round of venture capital f unding only next year.

With monthly page-views touching the 5-million mark in less than six months, after it started early this year, and an anticipated turnover of $1 million in its first year of operations, Prizedjobs.com hopes to strike it richer with the demand for IT prof essionals from major European countries and US slated to drive the placement market.

Its IIM graduate dotpreneur headhunter, with a 14-year brick-and-mortar background -- his Headhunters executive search firm is rated among the top three in India -- predicts that 50 per cent of the $100-billion recruitment market will be online by 2005. And Mr K. Lakshmikant is readying for a slice.

But page-view figures apart, Mr Lakshmikant says that the company's revenue model is what he is banking on.

Interactive revenue -- from advertising on the Web site -- accounts for less than 10 per cent of Prizedjobs's inflows. The rest comes from its calling -- placements. ``We are also into on-site consulting and expect the money to flow in from December.''

IT industry placements contribute 80 per cent to Prizedjobs' revenue stream and the company expects a turnover of $1 million this year, and $5 million next year.

Any recruitment firm needs a database, and Prizedjobs has 51,000 resumes and over 40,000 jobs. But you cannot have too much of a good thing.

To ensure that the Web site has top-of-the-mind recall for the public, Mr Lakshmikant introduced IT job fairs in India in March.

After six fairs, he is planning the seventh, to be held this weekend in Chennai, and later in Bangalore and Pune. The first attracted over 31,000 hopefuls and almost 1,400 of them were placed.

This time, with 24 participating companies -- Intel, GE, Satyam and CBSI among them -- he expects to place about 2,700 job-seekers, mostly in jobs in the US.

With Germany and the UK, and even Austria, requiring software professionals, Mr Lakshmikant expects Europe to be a favoured job destination.

Prizedjobs.com will open a European office in early October, ``half-a-dozen offices'' in the US by February -- including in San Francisco and New York -- and in Frankfurt, Brussels, Singapore, Sydney and Dubai by end-2001.

The company plans to grow through mergers and acquisitions -- of industry-specific (read IT-specific) firms in Europe and the US.

Mr Lakshmikant is in talks with a few companies in the US and is also looking at alliances in Australia and China, where Prizedjobs's venture capitalist, the US-based Carlyle group, has connections.

The Carlyle group has a 10 per cent stake in Prizedjobs and is expected to invest $6-10 million by April, 2001, in the second round of funding.

Satyam Infoway has a 27 per cent stake in the dotcom, which is valued at Rs. 10 crores, while ESOPs account for 9.1 per cent.