Local information service asklaila launches in Mumbai

Mumbai, India, January 17, 2008

Comprehensive, reliable local information at the touch of a mouse!

asklaila (www.asklaila.com), India’s first local information service announced today that it is rolling out its services in India’s financial capital, Mumbai. asklaila provides users a platform to search, review, rate and recommend local businesses and services, thereby promoting user engagement with their localities and enriching the local information for the community. asklaila is a service from Four Interactive, a Bangalore-based start-up and has been present in Bangalore since June 2007.

Users can search for local information across 650 localities in Mumbai on www.asklaila.com. Whether it is searching for a pub with valet parking in Bandra, finding a pre-nursery in Dadar, learn salsa or finding a notary in Andheri, asklaila gives users the answers they need. It provides not just listings, but also a richer information set through editorial and user reviews. asklaila differentiates itself on the most critical part of local search – data, and builds its own local information database. This data is verified manually and continually updated to make it accurate and up-to-date. Currently consumers have had to make do by relying on a variety of sources such as printed directories and city portals to obtain local information within their community and cities. Often, this information is outdated, incomplete or inaccurate.

“A vibrant city like Mumbai needs a service that provides current and accurate local information. Mumbai is a key market for us and we are excited to bring our service to Mumbaikars,” said Shriram Adukoorie, co-founder, Four Interactive.

“Comprehensive data and smart local search features deliver a superlative local search experience. asklaila Mumbai has highly localized search features like Indian soundex, that searches for words sounding similar but spelt differently; and is combined with great coverage and quality data about local establishments,” said Aravind Sampath Kumaran, Chief Product Officer, Four Interactive.

Globally, local queries constitute 63% of all search queries and 41% of those conducting a local search were searching for something in their home area, while 52% of such queries were specifically for a business phone number or address. Additionally, local search advertising is predicted to more than double in 2008 to USD 5 billion, according to global studies. Currently, the total advertising market in India is estimated at USD 3.5 billion, a significant part of that is local advertising.

Four Interactive was setup in December 2006, with an initial funding by Matrix Partners India. In September 2007, it closed a US$ 10 million round of series B funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners; also joined by SVB India Capital and Matrix Partners India. asklaila is available in Bangalore, and will be expanded to cover 33 cities in India.

About Four Interactive:
www.asklaila.com is the service of Four Interactive Pvt. Ltd., headquartered in Bangalore, India. Four Interactive is focused on building easy to use services that are at the intersection of the mobile, content and the online world for Indian consumers. The company’s mission is to connect consumers with local businesses. Four Interactive is co-founded by Shriram Adukoorie, who was previously country manager for MSN South Asia, and successful serial entrepreneur Kiran Konduri, who has co-founded and managed two startups Zephyr Software and Cogniti. More information on Four Interactive is available at www.asklaila.com/aboutus