PictureTime digiplex raises Rs 25cr for pan-India expansion

Mobile digital movie theatre start-up PictureTime raised Rs 25 crore at an undisclosed valuation in a Pre Series A financing round.

The funding will be used to expand PictureTime's mobile digiplex cinema theatres to 100 operational units by March 2019.

PictureTime is known for creating a mobile digiplex cinema theatre unit with a fireproof inflatable canopy that can accommodate 120 viewers. Within two hours, the air-conditioned mobile digiplex cinema theatre is fully functional, complete with seating arrangements and digital projectors with surround sound for a high-quality cinema experience. Tickets are priced in the range of Rs 30 to 50.

The outside areas of the digiplex are converted into a local food court and entertainment and gaming activities giving audiences in small semi-urban and rural areas accessibility to a multiplex cinematic experience.

The mobile digiplex cinema theatres also create digital marketplaces equipped with multiple facilities in the locations they visit. By creating 100-meter-wide intranet sites, they also provide facilities like Wi-Fi hotspot and micro ATMs facilitating villagers to make bank transactions or mandatory Aadhaar linkages.

"Our aim is to use technology to not only provide high-quality entertainment to rural India but to also use our mobile digiplex cinema theatres as an outreach vehicle to generate awareness on educational and government schemes on initiatives around Digital India, Skill India and Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan. We are also trying to curb the problems of piracy in remote rural areas by releasing new movies simultaneously in the locations we are present in," said PictureTime founder and CEO Sushil Chaudhary.

Established in October 2015, PictureTime introduced mobile digiplex cinema theatres in an effort to increase the number of cinema screens in India. Picture Time is currently operating 10 mobile digiplex cinema theatre units and has so far showcased movies in remote villages of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.