The aftermath of the dotcom bubble in 2001 was a bad time to be launching an internet start-up, particularly one specialising in matrimonial listings for Indians. “Newspapers in India put a ban on writing about internet companies. They were seen as some kind of scam,” recalls Murugavel Janakiraman, founder and chief executive of BharatMatrimony.com. Temples in India lambasted online matrimonial sites, where eligible singles seek others looking to get married, as the ruin of a sacred tradition by a dodgy medium.

But BharatMatrimony weathered the storm. Today it has 10m registered users who post profiles detailing their education, languages, religion and caste in the hope of finding a husband or wife.