
India local-language media start-up gets $16m from VCs
Sequoia Capital has led a INR1 billion ($16.4 million) round of funding for Verse Innovation, owner and operator of India-based local-language mobile platform NewsHunt.
This is Verse's second round of funding and it values the seven-year-old company at nearly $150 million, according to The Economic Times. Existing investors Matrix Partners India and Omidyar Network also participated. Matrix first backed the company in 2009.
"As India moves from a 100 million to 500 million smart phone user base, it is critical to bridge the gap of making available relevant content and apps for Indian language users," said Mohit Bhatnagar, managing director of Sequoia. He added that Verse is well placed to become a leading digital goods company.
Verse was founded in 2007 by CEO Virendra Gupta, who previously worked at Bharti Cellular and OnMobile. The company initially focused on mobile classified services before acquiring NewsHunt in 2012. The NewsHunt app aggregates content in over a dozen local languages from more than 100 newspapers and other publications. It also offers eBooks.
Verse claims the app has recorded more than 50 million installations and has 14 million monthly active users and over 1.5 billion monthly page views. The company wants to expand NewsHunt's content offering and user base with a view to becoming a "made-for-India" platform that digitizes, distributes and monetizes local language content.
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