Earlier today, Bertelsmann group company Gruner+Jahr sold back SeventyNine to SVG Media (Smile Vun Group), along with the digital agency NetworkPlay. The companies involved in the transaction, and indeed, those involved with the companies, have had a few transactions over the past few years, ever since G+J bought Networkplay. In a way, this is also the story of G+J's entry into, and exit from the ad-tech business in India: 2008: WebChutney and Capital18 incubate Networkplay: NetworkPlay was founded by a team of ex-Yahoo India employees, Rammohan Sundaram, Sunil Punjabi, Ampreet Singh and Viren Anand. It was incubated by WebChutney and funded by Network18's venture capital arm Capital18. July 2011: SVG incubates SeventyNine SeventyNine was incubated by Smile Vun Group (a JV between Manish Vij’s Vun and Harish Bahl’s Smile Group) in July 2011. It started commercial operations in April 2012 with a focus on rich media inventory especially videos. It also launched a mobile app analytics service in July 2012. March 2012: Gruner+Jahr acquires Networkplay It was a 100% buyout, and the company, we were told, was valued at around $8-10 million. NetworkPlay had reported revenues of Rs 19.84 crore, and net loss of Rs 2.88 crore for the year ended March 31, 2012. November 2nd, 2012: NetworkPlay acquires SeventyNine from SVG for an undisclosed amount. Post acquisition, SeventyNine worked as an independent business unit under the Networkplay umbrella, with its management reporting directly into the board. SeventyNine co-founders Chirag Shah and Deven Dharamdasani continued to lead the business post the buy-out. November 5th, 2012: NetworkPlay co-Founder & CEO Rammohan Sundaram quits…
