Gaming major Nazara Technologies’ subsidiary Nextwave Multimedia has completed the acquisition of casual freemium card game “UTP – Ultimate Teen Patti”. 

In a filing with the bourses, the listed gaming giant on Tuesday (July 30) said that it has acquired all intellectual property (IP) rights, softwares and associated trademarks pertaining to the game after paying the final tranche of payment worth INR 1 Cr.

“… We hereby inform you that, based on the intimation received from Next Wave Multimedia… the acquisition of all the intellectual Property rights pertaining to the “UTP – Ultimate Teen Patti” casual freemium card game/ software and associated trademarks from U Games Private Limited has been completed, upon payment of the final tranche of the consideration of INR 1 Cr, inclusive of applicable taxes, in cash,” said Nazara. 

This comes three months after the company, in April this year, announced that its subsidiary will buy all the IP rights related to the casual freemium card game from skill-gaming unicorn Games24x7’s arm U Games.

At the time, Nazara said that it will buy these assets for a cumulative sum of INR 10 Cr in cash, including INR 9 Cr that was paid on April 4. The remaining INR 1 Cr has been paid now post the transfer of these assets.

Launched in early 2015, UTP is a free-to-play social casual card game and does not offer any real money winnings to the players. The game clocked a gross turnover of INR 7 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23).

On the other hand, Nazara’s Chennai-based subsidiary develops casual and multiplayer sport mobile games including the World Cricket Championship that claims to have over 100 Mn downloads across platforms over the last seven years.

It is pertinent to note that Nazara, earlier this year, completely bought Nextwave by acquiring an additional 28.12% stake in the gaming company for INR 21.6 Cr. This came six years after Nazara first acquired a majority stake in Nextwave in January 2018 and further increased its shareholding to 71.88% in May last year.

The development comes at a time when the listed gaming major is on an acquisition spree. Earlier this month, the company picked up an additional 48.42% stake in Paper Boat Apps in an all-cash deal valued at INR 300 Cr. WIth this, Nazara’s ownership in the company will now rise to 100%.

Prior to this, Nazara-backed NODWIN Gaming’s Singapore-based subsidiary also picked up an additional 43.49% stake in Freaks 4U Gaming GmbH for around INR 212.9 Cr. It also bought gaming company Ninja Global FZCO for $3.57 Mn in a cash and stock deal in June 2024.

The gaming major saw its consolidated net profit decline 98% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 18 Lakh in the fourth quarter (Q4) of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). Meanwhile, operating revenue declined 8% to INR 266.2 Cr in Q4 FY24 compared to INR 289.3 Cr in the same quarter a year ago.

The post Nazara’s Nextwave Completes Acquisition Of Ultimate Teen Patti appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Listed gaming giant Nazara Technologies has sought approval from its shareholders for an increase in the limits to provide loans, guarantees, securities, or make investments.

The proposal includes granting loans on favourable terms and conditions to any person(s) or other corporate bodies. Additionally, it includes providing guarantees or securities in connection with loans taken by the company’s subsidiaries, associates, or other corporate bodies.

Furthermore, Nazara aims to acquire securities of various corporate bodies through subscription, purchase, or other means, in one or more tranches, up to an aggregate amount of INR 2,100 Cr.

Explaining the need for this, Nazara said it has been making investments in giving loans to its various subsidiaries, associates and other corporate bodies from time to time.

“The company has been constantly looking for opportunities in the market for acquisition/ investment in new businesses as part of its inorganic growth strategy. In order to make optimum use of funds available with the company and also to achieve long-term strategic and business objectives, the board of directors of the company proposes to make use of the same by making strategic acquisitions and investment in other bodies corporate or granting loans, giving guarantee or providing security to other body corporate as and when required,” it added.

Meanwhile, the gaming company has also sought approval from its shareholders for the acquisition of 2,614 fully paid-up equity shares, representing 24.54% of the paid-up share capital of Paper Boat Apps Private Limited, a subsidiary of the company. This acquisition will be from Anupam Dhanuka, considered a material related party transaction.

It has also sought approval for the acquisition of 2,543 fully paid-up equity shares, representing 23.88% of the paid-up share capital of its subsidiary Paper Boat Apps, from Anshu Dhanuka, classified as a material related party transaction.

It is pertinent to note that Anupam and Anshu are the cofounders and whole time directors of Paper Boat Apps.

Last week, Nazara announced that it would be acquiring an additional 48.42% stake in Paper Boat Apps. The transaction, valued at INR 300 Cr and to be paid in cash in tranches, will raise Nazara’s ownership in Paper Boat Apps to 100%.

Paper Boat Apps is the developer and publisher of children’s digital gamified learning app ‘Kiddopia’, a gaming app for kids in the US. Nazara will also consider merging Paper Boat Apps into the company at the appropriate time to bring home gamified learning IP ‘Kiddopia’.

Nazara first acquired a 50.91% stake in Paper Boat Apps in 2019.

For the last few months, Nazara has been increasing its stakes in companies in which it invested earlier. In May, it announced acquiring another 28.12% stake in Nextwave Multimedia Private Limited, the developer of the mobile cricket game franchise World Cricket Championship, for INR 21.6 Cr.

Nazara-backed NODWIN Gaming’s Singapore-based subsidiary, NODWIN Gaming International Pte. Ltd, also picked up an additional 43.49% stake in Freaks 4U Gaming GmbH for around €23.4 Mn (about INR 212.9 Cr).

Nazara’s consolidated net profit declined 98% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 18 Lakh in Q4 FY24. Its operating revenue also declined 8% YoY to INR 266.2 Cr in the quarter.

The post Nazara Seeks Shareholders’ Nod For Increasing Limit For Granting Loans appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Shares of coworking startup Awfis rallied more than 9% to touch an intraday high of INR 700.5 apiece on the BSE on Monday.

However, the stock pared some of the gains to end at INR 694 per share, up 8.19% from the previous close.

Notably, Awfis was among the only three new-age tech stocks that rallied in the week ahead of the Union Budget 2024-25, with its shares climbing 4.52%. The stock also touched an all-time high of INR 757.20 during the intraday trading session on July 18. 

Awfis made its stock market debut in May, with its shares listing on the BSE at a premium of 12.8% over the issue price.

At INR 694, the stock’s last closing price was 60.5% above the listing price of INR 432.25 apiece and 81.2% higher than the issue price of INR 383 per share.

Last week, Awfis roped in Nivia Sports executive Rajesh Kharbanda as a non-executive, non-independent director to its board.

The startup also made certain amendments to its Articles of Association (AoA) to grant specific rights to some shareholders. Now, Awfis shareholders — Peak XV Partners and the New Investor Group, can nominate one director each on the coworking startup’s board as long as they hold a 5% stake in the company on a fully diluted basis.

The recently-listed startup posted a consolidated net profit of INR 1.4 Cr in the March quarter (Q4) of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) on the back of significant improvements across business verticals. Awfis’ operating revenue also jumped over 45% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 232.3 Cr in Q4 FY24.

It had posted a net loss of INR 13.8 Cr in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal on an operating revenue of INR 160 Cr.

The post Awfis Shares Jump 9% To Touch Intraday High At INR 700.5 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Sportstech startup Game Theory has roped in India’s chief badminton coach Pullela Gopichand and a clutch of other players as investors.

However, the company did not disclose the financial terms of the new funding round.

Among others who have participated in the round include former squash player Saurav Ghosal and table tennis veteran Sharath Kamal.

The company plans to deploy the fresh proceeds to elevate athletes from foundational skills to elite competitive levels using the world’s leading technologies brought to everyday play.

“By investing in this venture, I hope to contribute to building a robust sports ecosystem that nurtures talent from the grassroots level. With Game Theory’s technology, we’ll not only be able to deliver a great program but also scout future talents, helping us win in the sport on a global scale. We can now create a structured and highly personalised pathway that guides young athletes to excel globally, particularly at the Olympics,” Gopichand said.

This comes at a time when sports and fitness tech startup Machaxi and SportVot raised funds earlier this year, in a pre-Series A funding round from various investors aimed at expansion and boosting their tech stack and product offerings.

Founded in 2019 by Sudeep Kulkarni, Game Theory is creating an ecosystem through a user-friendly app, facilitating the seamless discovery of compatible players and enjoyable gaming experiences.

It also claims to use computer-vision data to help players track progress, provide deep stats, and offer personalised coaching.

In November last year, Game Theory acquired sports analytics startup Matchday.ai to leverage its tech stack, which employs computer vision and AI capabilities, already being used in pro-sports.

At the heart of this development, a lot of funding and M&A activities have been witnessed in India’s broader sportstech space.

For instance, in October last year, Bengaluru-based sportstech company raised $2 Mn (INR 16.7 Cr) in its pre-Series A funding round from Nithin Kamath’s Rainmatter, Rohan Bopanna, WEH Ventures, Prequate Advisory, and angel investors such as Balakrishna Adiga.

Meanwhile, athletic professionals have been active in backing growing startups in the country.

Earlier this year, Pune-based EV startup EMotorad roped in former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni as an equity investor and healthtech platform Curelo raised funds from Indian cricketer Shreyas Iyer.

Few weeks ago, Olympian PV Sindhu also invested into an agritech startup Greenday’s FMCG brand Better Nutrition and D2C wellness brand Hoop.

The post Sportstech Startup Game Theory Ropes In Chief Badminton Coach Pullela Gopichand, Others As Investors appeared first on Inc42 Media.

A month after Pocket FM partnered with the US-based GenAI platform ElevenLabs to enable writers to convert their text stories into audio series, the audio streaming platform has laid off close to 200 writers based in the US.

Morning Context was the first to report on the development.

While Pocket FM did not reveal the exact number of writers impacted by the layoff exercise, Inc42 has learnt that it was less than 200.

A source told Inc42 that this is not a layoff as the writers work on short-term contracts and are not full-time employees.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson of Pocket FM said, “We had to part ways with some of our writers for US-based audio series to align our resources with our current show pipeline.These changes are typical in the content creation industry and do not reflect on the company’s overall health.” .

Founded in 2018 by Rohan Nayak, Nishanth KS and Dixit, Pocket FM is an audio streaming platform that offers diverse content across multiple languages and genres such as romance, self-help, and motivation.

Earlier this year, the startup bagged $103 Mn in funding as a part of its Series D round led by Lightspeed to bolster its presence in the US and expand presence to Europe and LATAM markets.

Meanwhile, Pocket FM’s India division saw a 663% year-on-year (YoY) surge in operating revenue, reaching INR 129.7 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23). During the same period, the company also managed to reduce its loss by 56% YoY to INR 75.7 Cr.

The post Lightspeed-Backed Pocket FM Lets Go Of Around 200 Writers appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal has scheduled the final hearing on the merger of Walt Disney-owned Star India with Reliance Industries-owned Viacom18 for August 1.

In its order dated July 11, the tribunal directed both parties to issue a fresh notice of the final hearing, ET reported.

The bench led by justices Kishore Vemulapalli (judicial) and Anu Jagmohan Singh (technical) said that the notice must be served to the central/state governments, tax authorities, and regulatory bodies like the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

If authorities do not reply within 30 days of receiving the notice, it will be presumed that they do not object to the scheme of arrangement between Star India and Viacom18, the order said.

Earlier this year, Reliance Industries, Viacom18 and Disney inked a deal to set up a joint venture that will combine the businesses of Viacom18 and Star India Private Limited.

The deal values the JV at $8.5 Bn on a post-money basis. Once the merger is enforced, the JV will be controlled by RIL, holding a 16.34% stake, while Viacom18 and Disney will own 46.82% and 36.84% of the company’s stakes, respectively.

Further, Reliance plans to invest INR 11,500 Cr in the JV. On top of Reliance and Viacom18-owned sports content, the resultant entity will have exclusive rights to distribute Disney’s content in India. 

The JV is expected to have a strong user base of 750 Mn in India. 

Once the merger plea gets the seal of approval from the NCLT, it will still require the nod from the Competition Commission of India.

However, the $8.5 Bn merger between Reliance Industries and Walt Disney’s India media assets has come under the scrutiny of CCI recently.

Earlier this month, the antitrust watchdog reportedly asked the companies nearly 100 questions, including specifics on sports rights.

It also sought answers as to why YouTube, which primarily features free, user-generated content, should be considered in the same market as subscription streaming services like Netflix and Disney.

The post NCLT Lists Final Hearing On Reliance-Disney Merger Deal For Aug 1 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Coworking Space Provider Awfis has roped in Rajesh Kharabanda as a non-executive, non-independent director following board’s approval.

“The approval of the shareholders of the company was sought by postal ballot for the appointment of Mr. Rajesh Kharabanda as a non-executive non-independent director on the Board of the company, liable to retire by rotation,” Awfis said in an exchange filing.

Kharabanda heads the homegrown sports brand Nivia as managing director of Freewill Sports Private Limited, which is Nivia’s parent company. He has around 37 years of experience in the sports industry. Besides, he serves as chairman of the Sports Goods Manufacturers & Exporters Association at Jalandhar.

Additionally, Kharabanda holds directorships in six other companies.

Apart from this appointment, Awfis has also made changes to its Articles of Association (AoA) to grant specific rights to certain shareholders.

“Pursuant to the aforesaid amendment, the company has inserted Part-B into the Articles of Association to include limited special rights for certain shareholders,” the filing said.

As part of these changes to the AoA, Awfis stakeholders, including Peak XV Partners and the New Investor Group, can nominate one director each as long as they hold at least 5% of the fully diluted share capital.

Additionally, Bisque Limited and Link Investment Trust can together nominate one director as long as they own 5% of the fully diluted equity in Awfis.

Not to mention, Awfis’s promoter, founder, and CEO Amit Ramani is allowed to nominate two directors if he owns 11% or more of the fully diluted share capital. If his share capital is at or above the 5% mark, he is allowed to nominate only one director.

Founded in 2015 by Amit Ramani, Awfis claims to be the largest flexible space operator in India with 181 centres, around 1.1 Lakh seats and about 5.6 Mn square feet of chargeable area, as of March 31, 2024.

While the startup started as a coworking network, it has since diversified into a tech-enabled workspace solutions platform, catering to enterprises, freelancers, startups and SMEs.

The development follows Awfis’s shares hitting 20% upper circuit earlier this month on July 18. 

It made its stock market debut on May 30 with shares listing at a premium of 12.8% on the BSE.

Its IPO comprised a fresh issue of shares worth INR 128 Cr besides an Offer For Sale component of up to 1.23 shares. 

Awfis first turned profitable in the March quarter (Q4) of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), reporting a profit after tax (PAT) of INR 1.4 Cr on an operating revenue of INR 232.3 Cr. 

Notably, earlier this month Ramani told Inc42 that the startup expects its top line to surpass the INR 1,100 Cr mark in FY25.

The post Awfis Ropes In Nivia Sports Executive Rajesh Kharabanda To Its Board appeared first on Inc42 Media.

WhatsApp and its parent company Meta have not informed the government of any plans to shut down their services in India, I&B Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has told the Rajya Sabha.

“The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has shared that WhatsApp or Meta has not informed the government about any such plans,” Vaishnaw told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

Further, responding to inquiries on blocking of YouTube channels in India, the minister said that the Centre had issued directions under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, for blocking channels in the interest of India’s sovereignty, defence, state security, friendly relations with foreign states, or public order. These measures aim to prevent incitement to any cognisable offence related to these concerns.

During its ongoing legal dispute with the Indian government, Meta-owned messaging platform WhatsApp informed the Delhi High Court in April that it would end its operations in India if compelled to break its message encryption. 

WhatsApp counsel made the assertion during a hearing on the platform’s plea challenging a provision of IT Rules, 2021 for social media intermediaries, which requires them to identify the first originator of information to a court or other competent authority.

It is important to note that major tech companies such as Meta, Google, and Microsoft are facing regulatory scrutiny in various cases across India. From January to June last year, Indian authorities issued a total of 70,612 content take-down requests across all Meta platforms. Of these, 63,586 were legal process requests, while the remaining were classified as ‘emergency disclosure requests’.

The post WhatsApp And Its Parent Have Not Informed Of Any India Exit Plan: Ashwini Vaishnaw appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Continuing its offerings expansion spree, foodtech major Zomato has rolled out a loyalty programme initiative for select restaurants.

Cofounder and chief executive Deepinder Goyal in a post on X, said, “I repeat-order from my favourite restaurants often, and so do a lot of our customers. To make this more rewarding for you, we are introducing Brand Packs – our first step towards building loyalty programmes for select restaurants on Zomato.”

As a part of this programme, Zomato claims to have already partnered with over 4,000 restaurants so far. 

The company further said in a statement that Brand Packs will cater to customers who often repeat orders from their favourite restaurants. 

Brand Packs are available in the form of coupons that can be accessed by all customers. Under this coupon, Zomato is offering a 10% discount with no upper limit on the first three orders.

Goyal also conveyed that over 10 Lakh customers have already used the Brand Packs coupon. 

Inc42 has sought clarification from Zomato on the nature of the Brand Packs programme. The story will be updated based on the response. 

This development comes a month after Zomato rolled out its restaurant services hub to cater to restaurants around hiring, FSSAI registrations, taxation and trademarking among others. 

While Zomato has its loyalty programme offering called Gold for its consumers, its counterpart Swiggy also has a similar offering under Swiggy One. 

On the broader business front, Zomato has been expanding its offerings with the introduction of its home-cooked meal service ‘Zomato Everyday’ in Mumbai marking its latest offering. 

In July, Zomato’s fully owned subsidiary Zomato Financial Services Limited (ZFCL) voluntarily withdrew its application with the Reserve Bank of India to operate as a non-banking financial company (NBFC).

In May, Zomato received a goods and services tax (GST) demand notice of INR 9.45 Cr by the Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes (Audit) in Karnataka.

On Friday, shares of Zomato were trading at INR 222.35 at 3 PM on BSE, up 1.5% from its previous close.

The post Zomato Launches ‘Brand Packs’ To Reward Repeat Orders & Build Loyalty Program For Restaurants appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Two days after rolling out its largest-ever open source AI model Llama 3.1, social media giant Meta has said that it will be helping Indian startups with synthetic data generation support to overcome real-world quality data issues in the local language.

Meta launched its Llama 3.1 on Tuesday (July 23) with 405 Bn parameters, trained on 15 Tn tokens using powerful Nvidia GPUs. With this LLM model, the company will compete against AI models like GPT-4.0 and Claude 3.5 Sonnet.

“We think of Llama as this general base model, that companies and developers like (Indian AI startup) Sarvam should be able to customise to bring the nuances of language and culture,” Meta’s vice president of product management Ragavan Srinivasan was quoted as saying by ET.

This comes at a time when it is being seen that general-purpose large language models are struggling with language nuances. However, Meta believes that Llama can generate synthetic data to better understand languages like Hindi, Kannada, or Marathi.

On the launch of Llama 3.1, Meta in its blog post said, “We’re taking a different approach with this release. We’re building teams internally to enable as many developers and partners as possible to use Llama, and we’re actively building partnerships so that more companies in the ecosystem can offer unique functionality to their customers as well.” 

The new model will include features like enabling developers to create their custom agents and new types of agentic behaviours, a reference system and new security and safety tools. Besides, the company also plans for a feedback facility on the Llama Stack API to make it easier for third-party projects leveraging Llama models.

This comes close on the heels of Meta ramping up language options for its AI chatbot across all applications, including WhatsApp.

Meta AI will now be available in seven new languages, including Hindi and Hindi-romanised script. Besides, it will also support other languages such as French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.

Currently, Meta AI is available in 22 countries, with the latest additions being Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Cameroon.

Earlier this month, Meta expanded its verified service to Facebook and Instagram users after rolling out the service for WhatsApp business users.

Meta Verified is a subscription service that helps brands enhance credibility with new audiences with a “blue tick”, enhanced account support, impersonation protection, and additional features to support discovery and connection.

India is home to the largest user base of Meta’s family of apps. While Facebook accounts for 378 Mn users in the country, WhatsApp and Instagram have 478 Mn and 362 Mn users respectively, as per Statista.

The post Meta’s Llama 3.1 To Help Indian AI Startups Fend Off Data Quality Issues appeared first on Inc42 Media.

As part of its efforts to offer digitised transport solutions, Google Maps will now allow Kochi and Chennai’s metro commuters to book tickets directly via the app from later this week.

The feature will be powered by the mobility app Namma Yatri, which will handle the entire booking and payment process.

In December last year, Google reportedly announced its partnership with open network of digital commerce and Namma Yatri to streamline public transport experience on Google Maps.

The feature will give users an option to book their tickets, besides enabling them to search for public transport directions on the app. 

Google said in a blog post that this move will scale up user experience as well as curb rush of metro commuters on the platform.

The tech giant is also planning to expand this feature to other cities across India.

Founded in 2022, Namma Yatri is a union-backed ride hailing platform which facilitates direct rides between users and drivers. The Juspay-backed company recently partnered with ONDC to launch its services in Delhi.

It is pertinent to note that this is one of the six key features launched by Google to offer efficient travel solutions to the Indian users via Google Maps.

AI-Driven Navigation To Detect Narrow Roads

Along with the metro booking feature, Google has also introduced an AI-based feature for users to detect narrow roads and help four wheeler drivers avoid these routes.

The feature will be currently available on android devices in eight cities including Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Coimbatore, Indore, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar and Guwahati.

EV Charging Station Information

The tech giant has also joined hands with Indian EV players, including ElectricPe, Ather, Kazam and Statiq among others to facilitate users with information regarding EV charging stations on Google Maps. 

Google further claims India to be the first country to get this feature.

Flyover Alerts

Google Maps is also adding a feature that will clearly show flyovers along the route, making it easier for drivers to decide the best way to go and reduce confusion.

The development comes at a time when local navigation platform Ola Maps, Ola’s in-house map system, is hustling hard to compete with Google Maps.

Ola recently announced its complete exit from Google Maps and its shift to Ola Maps for navigation services, saving INR 100 Cr annually in charges payable to Google. At the heart of it, Ola’s founder and CEO Bhavish Agarwal also urged Indian developers to transition from Google Maps to Ola Maps.

Both Google and Ola are moving head-to-head to woo developers. For instance, Ola announced a new pricing structure just a day after Google reduced subscription prices.

The post Now, Google Maps Enables Direct Metro Ticket Bookings For Kochi And Chennai Commuters appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Days after expanding its verified services for Facebook and Instagram business users In India, social media giant Meta has now ramped up language options for its AI chatbot across all applications, including WhatsApp.

Meta AI will now be available in seven new languages, including Hindi and Hindi-romanised script. Besides, it will also support other languages such as French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.

Currently, Meta AI is available in 22 countries, with the latest additions being Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Cameroon.

“This is just the start — we’re listening to your feedback, updating Meta AI every two weeks to enhance your experience and innovating quickly to bring new features to help you create, get inspired and get more done,” the company said in a statement.

Meta AI has become an essential tool for tackling how-to tasks, answering questions, and providing inspiration and guidance, enhancing daily routines and serving as a creative partner, it added.

It also claims to be working on creative editing capabilities with Meta AI, making it easier to create your ideal image. With this feature, one can easily add or remove objects, change them, and edit them—adjusting just what you want while keeping the rest of the image as it was. 

Meta AI has also rolled out its advanced open-source model, Llama 405B, now available on WhatsApp and meta.ai in Hindi. This new model will help improve reasoning capabilities, allowing Meta AI to handle more complex questions, particularly in math and coding.

“You can get help on your math homework with step-by-step explanations and feedback, write code faster with debugging support and optimization suggestions, and master complex technical and scientific concepts with expert instruction,” it said.

This new functionality allows for rapid transformation of wild ideas into reality, even incorporating users directly into the game, said Meta.

The post Meta AI Expands Language Support With Hindi And Hindi-Romanised Script appeared first on Inc42 Media.

VerSe Innovation is struggling to keep its Josh going.

After bagging $805 Mn in 2022 — the biggest cheque that year — and raising nearly $1.5 Bn in its lifetime, the Josh and Dailyhunt parent company is still stuck on the one question that most startups go through even one day one i.e. monetisation.

The revenue challenge is particularly hard on Josh, VerSe’s short video app that had all the momentum on its side just two years ago. The startup raised the money and acquired users to take short video platform Josh to the top of the pile of Indian short video apps over the past few years.

But Josh is now yet another example of an Indian short video app falling short of the mark.

The optimism around short video apps, which boomed in 2021 and fizzled out soon after, has proven to be misplaced. We have seen the situation at Sharechat’s Moj, Trell, Roposo, Mitron, Chingari and half a dozen other short video apps, all of which faced massive monetisation challenges. 

But Verse was bullish about Josh even through this downturn. In February 2023, VerSe’s cofounder Umang Bedi said the company is aiming to take Josh to the public markets in the next few quarters saying that the platform has started making money.

However, Inc42 learnt from sources that Josh has considerably scaled down its operations, letting go of 50-70 employees in the last two months even as monetisation continues to pose a challenge. 

While VerSe Innovation did not respond to our questions, sources close to management said these were a part of a routine performance review, with various employees asked to put down their papers. 

As per sources, the layoffs impacted senior employees who were drawing higher salaries than others. We were also told that team leaders often spoke about VerSe’s soaring losses, as a result of various initiatives that were shunted. 

“However, amidst this restructuring the company continued to hire freshers and others at junior positions,” one source told us. 

The retrenchments occurred after VerSe announced the acquisition of US-based magazine subscription platform Magzter in April 2024, as it looked to strengthen the content delivery business of Dailyhunt and One India. But none of these verticals are profitable, and therein lies the big problem for VerSe. 

Josh, which requires the most marketing dollars, is the heaviest weight around the company’s shoulders. 

In FY23, VerSe Innovation managed to cut its losses by 25% to INR 1,909 Cr from INR 2,563 Cr even as the startup’s operating revenue zoomed 51% to INR 1,456.5 Cr in FY23 from INR 964.7 Cr in FY22. Dailyhunt contributed more than 70% to this revenue, while Josh’s standalone revenue was INR 300 Cr. 

Given that VerSe raised more than $800 Mn (INR 6,700 Cr) Mn just over two years ago, these revenue figures make for lacklustre reading. It’s unclear whether VerSe has managed to scale up its revenue and profitability in FY24. 

So the question is will Josh also join the long list of dead short video apps in India or is there some life left in VerSe’s short video bet? 

How Josh Lost The Game Of Algorithms 

Most Indian short video apps — including Sharechat-backed Moj, Trell, MX TakaTak, Chingari and others — fizzled out due to their inability to retain advertisers and users for a long period. Advertiser attrition hurts the only source of revenue i.e ads, while de-growth on the user side means the virtuous cycle of engagement and content was broken. 

Sources say Josh has gone through all of these challenges in the past year. In addition, some key initiatives and customer acquisition strategies did not work out for the parent company. 

As per data sourced from Data.ai, Josh’s monthly downloads have fallen by nearly 80% — from around 6 Lakh in July 2023 to 1.1 Lakh in June 2024. Similarly, the monthly active user (MAU) base has also fallen by more than 50% from 20 Mn in July 2023 to 9.4 Mn in July this year.

Sources alleged the quality of content on Josh, as well as content moderation was substandard. Secondly, due to poor recommendation algorithms, engagement was always an issue, particularly on trending topics where Instagram, and Youtube Shorts have the edge.

“The user experience on Josh has deteriorated considerably since 2022 with algorithms no match to Instagram, Youtube which have better AI/ML algorithms and such platforms have almost captured all the viral, trending themes. Sometimes such organic trend content shows up on Josh days later,” another source claimed, adding that daily and monthly active users have seen a consistent slide in the past two years.

Another source well versed with Josh’s operational execution alleged that the platform was home to numerous bots (automated accounts) following some of the more popular creators and influencers. This resulted in some reputational damage for Josh among creators as well. The tactic attracted brands for some time, but most caught on eventually. 

“The inherent problem with such platforms is that old content is being pushed consistently to engage audiences from tier 2, 3 towns and this was combined with fake followers and fake views. But this is bound to flop as everyone will find out soon enough,” according to Pranav Panpalia, founder of Delhi-based influencer marketing agency Opraahfx. 

Brijesh Awasthi, founder & CEO of another homegrown social network platform Netclan Explorer, believes that building social media platforms has proven to be a capital intensive exercise which can only be sustained for some time, and organic user acquisition is key for the long run.

Cost Cutting Squeezes Out Creators

Besides the alleged fake followers, creators were also not seeing a revenue upside with Josh.

Nearly a year ago, Josh launched Creator Pro programme in a strategic shift to pay creators based on the engagement they can drive, instead of a fixed sum per month, which was roughly around INR 10,000 for smaller creators. 

“The shift to engagement-linked payouts turned out to be a disaster because the payouts were negligible. Creators could collect diamonds for a certain number of likes, but this was only equivalent to 1 paise or 1/100th of a rupee. So the creators were paid a meagre amount for the work they put in to get the likes and followers,” another person who was until recently a part of the community engagement at Josh, told Inc42. 

When it comes to brand campaigns, micro-creators (between 1K to 10K followers) are paid between INR 10,000 and INR 30,000 per video post, whereas those with higher follower counts were paid INR 50,000 per post. 

“In these campaigns, brands allocate some budget to pay creators and platforms get their commission too. Right now, Josh has around 3,000-5,000 micro creators who don’t charge much for content,” said another source who is well versed with the content management at Josh.

The person quoted above claimed that influencers with huge following Sameesksha Sud (60 Mn+ followers), Vishal Pandey (43 Mn+ followers) are paid up to INR 30 Lakh per year by Josh as a retention strategy. 

Influencer agency founder Panpalia said other platforms don’t have to pay such hefty retainer fees. YouTube, for instance, only shares revenues with creators that can get good engagement and the rest of the income that the creators draw is from brands or minimal ad-sharing from YouTube.

“However, there is a huge difference in the payouts between some of these Indian platforms and YouTube which has also led to influencer exodus from these short video apps,” he added.

No Country For Short Video Apps

This is a far cry from how VerSe Innovation catered to creators after it had raised funds in 2022. Many were given perks such as travel expenses, verified accounts and fixed pay to get them glued to the platform. All these have vanished slowly.

Josh also tried on-ground activation activities to draw in more creators and users in different states of the country.  The Josh Ambassador programme also saw VerSe Innovation splurge to retain creators and get them to refer other creators for bonus payouts. Both on-ground events and Josh Ambassador programmes have now been wound down to cut costs.

With many of these creator-centric activities now shelved, Josh is back to square one in many ways. Revenue is still heavily dependent on ads. And while Josh does get its fair share of regional language ads and political ads (for the 2024 General Elections), these are unlikely to go a long way in solving the revenue problem. 

“For instance,  a popular FMCG brand may want to target the Bihar market and Josh will provide them with a structured advertising campaign deal to target audiences in the region, saying that they have a fixed number of creators and influencers in Bihar for content creation,” another source at Josh told us. 

Our sources added that revenue from regional language ads has so far kept Josh running, but the revenue upside for campaigns in niche markets is low. To build on this scale, the company needs to crack other avenues of monetisation. 

User revenue is sorely missing for Josh and other apps of its kind. 

Ultimately, the demise of the Indian short video space is largely due to the fact that these platforms do not have the luxury of a long road to monetisation like early platforms such as Facebook or Twitter. 

For instance, neither Facebook nor Twitter had major sources of monetisation for a long time after their inception, but that was a different era, where a category was being created. The likes of Josh do not have the same luxury, and as such had to crack monetisation much faster than their western counterparts. 

We have not seen stickiness to any of the gamification features or subscription products launched by many of these platforms. And almost all of them are plagued by below-par experience for both users and creators, so is it any surprise that India’s short video ocean is littered with sunken ships? 

[Edited By Nikhil Subramaniam]

The post VerSe Innovation’s Josh Is Fizzling Out appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Hyperlocal services startup Urban Company posted a loss before tax of INR 93 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), down 70% year-on-year from INR 312 Cr a year ago.

The Gurugram-based startup’s net revenue rose 30% YoY to INR 827 Cr, ET reported, citing an annual business summary shared by the company.

Inc42 has not independently verified the document.

The company saw its operating EBITDA decline to INR 116 Cr in FY24 as against INR 297 Cr a year ago.

Urban Company clocked a revenue of INR 281 Cr in the June quarter (Q1) of the ongoing fiscal year (FY25). The startup claimed to have clocked a profit before tax of INR 12 Cr in Q1 FY25.

Inc42 earlier reported that Urban Company raised INR 400 Cr ($50 Mn) from Dharana Capital through a secondary share sale.

Founded in 2014 by Abhiraj Singh Bahl, Raghav Chandra and Varun Khaitan, Urban Company offers a range of services such as home cleaning, appliance salon and massage, repair services and painting, among others.

The startup counts Ratan Tata, Accel Partners, Tiger Global, Prosus and Steadview Capital among its backers and has raised more than $646 Mn in funding to date, as per Inc42’s data.

Earlier this year, Bahl announced in a LinkedIn post that Urban Company turned profitable before tax (PBT) in April 2024.

In September last year, Urban Company said that its India business broke even in Q1 FY24 at an “adjusted EBITDA level with negative working capital”.

The company’s net loss declined more than 40% YoY to INR 308 Cr in FY23 from INR 514 Cr in FY22. Meanwhile, its revenue from operations jumped 45% YoY to INR 637 Cr in FY23 from INR 438 Cr in FY22.

The post Urban Company’s FY24 Loss Narrows To INR 93 Cr, Revenue Jumps 30% YoY appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Days after US software giant Microsoft experienced a major outage, streaming major YouTube was down in India today as more than 100 users flagged issues while accessing the app and website as well as in uploading videos. 

At least 128 users reported issues while uploading videos on YouTube, with the disruption beginning at around 1:28 PM and reaching its peak at 3:13 PM, as per outage tracking website Downdetector.

It further said that, at least 62% users reported an issue while uploading videos, while 24% had issues accessing the YouTube app. The remaining 14% experienced issues with the website.

However, the reason behind the outage still remains uncertain.

Several users turned to social media platform X to express their concerns, including obstacles in uploading their videos on the YouTube Studio.

“Apparently YouTube is down right now. When I try to upload a YouTube Short it doesn’t appear on YouTube Studio or on my Channel. It just disappears,” said a user in his X post.

Just last week, Microsoft suffered a major global outage in its services, primarily impacting users of its software offering Microsoft 365. The outage has barred users from accessing various Microsoft 365 apps and services. 

As a result of the outage, several Indian airlines experienced hurdles in several of their workflows, rendering booking, check-in and manage booking services “temporarily unavailable. Airlines facing delays include Akasa Air, Vistara, Indigo, and SpiceJet. 

However, after a day, the company managed to retrieve some of its more critical services.

Few days back, Meta-owned Instagram was also down affecting more than 6000 Indian users, restricting them to access the platform. As per the Downdetector’s site 57% of these users complained about Instagram’s feed, 33% of users reported issues with accessing the app and 10% of users said they were facing server connection issues.

This comes amid a host of creator-focussed offerings launched by YouTube last year. Earlier in 2023, it expanded eligibility for the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) and brought YouTube Shorts creators under the initiative. It also rolled out an ad revenue sharing feature for short form videos as competition began to mount from Meta-owned Instagram Reels. 

YouTube also announced upcoming creative tools on YouTube Shorts and is said to be testing new GenAI features that would allow users to create music tracks based on a text prompt or even a simple hummed tune. 

However, the platform has also come under the spotlight of the government to crack the whip on deepfakes and misinformation. YouTube India’s senior executive, last month, dubbed deepfakes as being antithetical to its interests, saying that viewers, creators and advertisers want to steer clear of platforms that allow fake news or misinformation.

The company then also said that it was compliant with all local laws and was continuously actively engaging with the government on all emerging issues.

The post Now, YouTube Down In India, Several Users Unable To Upload Videos, Access App appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Adtech unicorn InMobi-owned mobile content provider Glance is reportedly in advanced talks to raise capital in a $250 Mn funding round led by its existing backer Google.

As per a Bloomberg report, Glance InMobi Pte. is looking to raise the funding within a few weeks. However, the report also said that the fundraise is yet to be finalised and discussions might still break down.

Responding to Inc42’s request for a comment on the development, Glance said it doesn’t comment on market rumours and speculations.

Founded in 2019 by Naveen Tewari, Abhay Singhal, Mohit Saxena, and Piyush Shah, Glance is owned by InMobi, which was founded in 2007. Glance delivers screensavers for mobile devices, which helps users view certain content news without unlocking displays or opening any apps. 

The platform delivers AI-driven personalised content in languages including English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Bahasa on the lock screen of Android smartphones. This content includes trending news.

Its offerings include Glance Lock Screen, Glance Home Screen, and Glance Folders. It claims to have over 300 Mn users in countries, including India, the US, Japan and Indonesia.

In 2019, Glance raised $45 Mn in a funding round from Mithril Capital. The next year, it raised $145 Mn in investment from Google and existing investor Mithril Capital to enter the unicorn club.

Later on, in February 2022, Glance received $200 Mn in funding from Reliance’s Jio in its Series D round. 

The startup acquired gaming startup Gambit Sports in 2022 to build NFT-based live gaming experiences for Gen-Z, across various markets. 

Last year, Glance launched Nostra, a mobile gaming platform for India and Southeast Asia. The startup’s partners include top smartphone companies such as Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, and realme, among others.

The post Mobile Content Unicorn Glance In Talks To Raise $250 Mn In Funding Led By Google appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Cricketer Hardik Pandya has inked a deal with FanCode’s online merchandise and licensing arm FanCode Shop to roll out his own personalised sportswear brand.

The Dream Sports-owned company said in a statement that under this licensing pact, it will design, manufacture and market products under the Hardik Pandya brand name in a revenue-sharing partnership.

The product line will initially include t-shirts, vests, polos, shorts, and jackets, with prices ranging from INR 899 to INR 2.2 K, it added.

ET reported the development first.

“I really wanted to create something that embodies my journey and connects with today’s youth who are unstoppable despite what life throws at them. I am excited to see this come alive with the performance wear range with FanCode Shop,” said Pandya.

This deal also marks Pandya’s entry into licensing after only doing endorsement deals for brands till now.

“We have worked with Hardik and Rise for more than a year on building the product. We have launched 26 products in performance wear and are working to launch more products in the coming days,” said FanCode’s cofounder Yannick Colaco.

In September 2023, FanCode also acquired the exclusive streaming rights for various Asian Football Confederation (AFC) competitions for 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons. Later in June this year, the partnership got extended till 2029.

Founded by Yannick Colaco and Prasana Krishnan in 2019, FanCode claims to provide personalised experience across content and merchandise.In 2020, the company launched FanCode Shop, an online sports fan merchandising store which provides easy access to a range of authentic sports brands. 

FanCode shop claims to be the official merchandise partner for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 and ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2023.

The development comes at a time when India’s sports wear space has been seeing a lot of activities across licensing and funding.

For instance, sportswear startup Agilitas Sports recently acquired the brand licence for Italian sports brand Lotto. Under the long-term license of 40 years, the startup bagged the exclusive rights to design, manufacture and distribute the brand in India, South Asia and Australia. In December last year, Agilitas Sports raised INR 100 Cr (about $11.9Mn) from venture capital firm Nexus Venture Partners.

Talking about funding, Bengaluru-based activewear brand TechnoSport recently secured $25 Mn (around INR 208 Cr) from A91 Partners to boost its manufacturing capabilities as well as focus on digital brand building and marketing activities. 

The post Cricketer Hardik Pandya Joins Hands With FanCode Shop To Roll Out His Sportswear Brand appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Edtech startup Adda247 has rolled out its first employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) buyback programme.

At least 130 employees across various roles and functions will be participating in the buyback, the startup said in a statement.

Notably, Adda247 granted stock options worth INR 150 Cr to its employees under its ESOP pool in 2022 with an annual vesting period of four years.

The startup added that the buyback is averaging 40 times the initial purchase price. 

“Our employees are the strength of Adda247, and this initiative demonstrates our appreciation for their dedication and hard work and the wealth they can create,” said Adda247’s founder Anil Nagar. 

Founded in 2016 by Nagar and Saurabh Bansal, Adda247 is an edtech startup that offers preparation for government job entrance exams. It offers online coaching to students residing in Tier-2 cities and beyond. It claims to have over 40 Mn monthly users and has 2 Mn students enrolled in its premium courses.

It counts the ikes of Westbridge, Google, Info Edge, and Asha Impact among its investors. 

The development adds to Adda247’s plans of diversifying its offerings with its acquisition of Ekagrata Eduserv to mark its foray into the CA test preparation segment earlier this month. 

Before that, it bought the interactive learning edtech platform Veeksha for an undisclosed amount last year. 

Contrary to this diversification move, Adda247 shed off around  250-300 workforce across multiple verticals last year owing to extending its runway amid funding winter.

On the financial front, Adda247 recorded 88% year-on-year growth in revenue to INR 243.39 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 129.65 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Additionally, it narrowed down its net loss by 66% to INR 101 Cr, down from INR 296 Cr in FY23. 

The post Google-Backed Adda247 Rolls Out First ESOP Buyback appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Tech giant Google has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with real estate developer Anant Raj to offer cloud computing services and data centre infrastructure to enterprises.

As part of the agreement, the cloud computing arm of the developer will collaborate with Google to help clients develop “purpose-built Al-infused solutions for data infrastructure, productivity, and security”.

In a filing with the BSE, Anant Raj also said that the two parties will work together to develop innovative technological solutions for potential customers.

“We are pleased to announce that Anant Raj Cloud Pvt. Ltd… has entered into an MoU with Google LLC… to collaborate for providing data centre infrastructure, DC managed services and

cloud platform to various public and private enterprises, to develop innovative technological solutions for potential customers…,” read the filing. 

The real estate company is currently developing 300 MW (IT load) data centres across three locations in Haryana – Manesar, Rai and Panchkula. The initial phase of the project at Manesar is said to be ready.

As per its website, the company holds 18 Lakh sq ft in Manesar on a 10-acre site, while it has another 6 Lakh sq ft of space at its under-construction 10-acre plot in Panchkula. 

The development comes three months after reports said that Google was in advanced talks to buy a 22.5-acre land parcel in Navi Mumbai’s Juinagar to build the tech giant’s first-ever captive data centre in India for INR 850 Cr. 

Apart from this, the tech major has also reportedly inked multiple deals to lease space at colocation data centres in Navi Mumbai and Noida.

This comes at a time when more and more big tech companies are looking to set up data centres in India to cater to the growing demand for cloud services in India and a post-pandemic surge in digitalisation.

On top of that, the demand has also been led by more and more businesses moving online, growing data usage, the onset of 5G and data localisation mandates.

The post Google Signs MoU With Developer Anant Raj To Offer Data Centre Infra To Businesses appeared first on Inc42 Media.

A month after rolling out its “Meta Verified” offering for WhatsApp Business users in India, social media giant Meta has now expanded the service to Facebook and Instagram. 

Meta Verified is a subscription service that helps brands enhance credibility with new audiences with a “blue tick”, enhanced account support, impersonation protection, and additional features to support discovery and connection.

As part of the new announcement, the company has introduced a four-tiered subscription slab – Standard, Plus, Premium, and Max. The basic Standard plan starts at INR 639 for a single app per month, while the Max goes all the way up to INR 30,000 for a month for two apps. 

Each plan builds on the previous one, and offers increasing levels of features and support for businesses at different stages of growth. The company said that the subscription plans will be available for purchase only via iOS or Android for Indian businesses. 

Businesses have the option to buy verification for a single app or a bundled package for both Facebook and Instagram. 

In a bid to woo businesses, Meta on Friday (July 19) also announced an introductory offer for the subscriptions. Under this, users can avail the top-tier Meta Verified (for both Facebook and Instagram) membership for INR 21,000 per month. However, post 12 months, standard rates for the offering will increase to INR 30,000 for two apps per month. 

The latest launch in India is an expansion of the Meta Verified program, which the social media major has been gradually rolling out globally since its initial introduction in 2023.

Meta first launched the service for creators in Australia and New Zealand in 2023 but later expanded the service to businesses, starting with a pilot in New Zealand. The following month, Meta extended the service to businesses in Australia and Canada, with plans to launch in several other countries.

Eventually, it rolled out the service for WhatsApp business users in June this year for plans ranging from INR 1,240 to INR 9,940 per month.

The development comes at a time when Meta has been rolling out a slew of new offerings in India. Last month, the social media major rolled out its AI assistant for Indian users across WhatsApp, Facebook, Messenger and Instagram platforms.

India is home to the largest user base to Meta’s family of apps. While Facebook accounts for 378 Mn users in the country, WhatsApp and Instagram have 478 Mn and 362 Mn users respectively, as per Statista. 

The post Meta Rolls Out Verified Service For Facebook, Instagram Business Users In India appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Foodtech major Zomato has started facilitating income tax return (ITR) filings by its delivery partners to enable the latter to get refunds on their TDS deduction.

Cofounder and CEO Deepinder Goyal made this announcement on X today. “With this initiative, most of our delivery partners will be filing taxes for the first time in their lives, which should make their lives easier in the long run – for example – they will be able to get access to structured credit, they will qualify for scholarships for their kids at various educational institutions, etc.”

He further added that within 48 hours of going live on the Zomato Delivery Partner app, more than 1 Lakh partners have initiated their ITR filing.

Goyal said that the company paid a total of more than INR 4,000 Cr to its delivery partners last year, accounting for 40 Cr as the TDS amount (as 1% is deducted as TDS). 

It is pertinent to note that the government mandated businesses like Zomato and Swiggy to deduct 1% as TDS from the delivery partner payouts.

This development comes a few days after Goyal entered the billionaire club with the company’s shares hitting INR 230 mark on July 15. Notably, Goyal owns 36.95 Cr shares in the company which is expected to be worth over INR 8,400 Cr ($1 Bn). 

Earlier this month, Zomato faced a goods and service tax (GST) demand notice of INR 9.45 Cr from the Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes (Audit) in Karnataka. Under this, Zomato is asked to pay GST of INR 5,01,95,462 ( INR 5.01 Cr), which will be marked up with an interest charge of INR 3.93 Cr, and a penalty of INR 50.19 Lakh. 

On the business front, the company has witnessed several developments with Motilal Oswal offloading Zomato’s 2.6 Cr shares in a block deal worth INR 645 Cr emerging as the latest one. Not to mention that the listed startup along with its counterpart Swiggy was reported to hike the platform fee to INR 6 per order in its key markets, including Delhi and Bengaluru.

Zomato’s Friday trading session closed at INR 218.80, a marginal decline from its previous close at INR 220.

The post Now, Zomato Initiates ITR Filing For Its Delivery Partners appeared first on Inc42 Media.

India emerged as the second biggest market for streaming giant Netflix in terms of paid subscriber additions for the quarter ended June 2024, on the back of robust content catalogue in the country. 

Further, India also ranked third in terms of revenue percent growth for the streaming giant during the second quarter of 2024, the company said in a letter to its shareholders.

However, Netflix did not reveal the exact subscriber or revenue figures for the Indian market.

“I think India’s growth is a story that we see around the world playing out very similarly. So you look at the content, the product market fit is what drives our ability to attract members and retain members and monetise with them as well,” said Theodore A Sarandos, co-CEO, president and director of Netflix, in the post-earnings call.

Globally, Netflix saw the addition of 8.05 Mn subscribers, out of which 2.83 Mn came from the Asia-Pacific region, including India.

Netflix’s overall revenue surged 16.8% year-on-year in Q2 of 2024 to $9.56 Bn, of which $1.05 Bn came from the APAC region. 

The announcement comes at a time when Netflix is facing intense competition in the over-the-top (OTT) video streaming market from both global and domestic players.

With Reliance and Disney entering into a joint venture, combining the businesses of Viacom18 and Star India, which includes Jio Cinema and Disney+ Hotstar, the new entity is expected to disrupt the OTT market, with an estimated 34% market share.

It is pertinent to note that Netflix slashed prices across all subscription plans in a bid to drive subscriber growth in India. Further, the streaming giant has also clamped down on password sharing, and expanded its library in the country.

It is pertinent to note that Netflix’s India arm, Netflix Entertainment Services India LLP, posted a 75% jump in its net profit to INR 35 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) from INR 20.13 Cr in FY22.

Revenue from operations grew 24% to INR 2,214 Cr during the year under review from INR 1,784 Cr in FY22.

Recently, the OTT major teamed up with Vodafone Idea to offer prepaid tariff plans bundled with a subscription for Netflix.

The post India Climbs To Second Spot For Netflix In Paid Subscriber Additions appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Nazara Technologies Limited has picked up an additional 48.42% stake in Paper Boat Apps Pvt Ltd (PBA) from its promoters Anupam and Anshu Dhanuka.

The transaction, valued at INR 300 Cr and to be paid in cash in tranches, will raise Nazara’s ownership in PBA to 100%, the company said in a filing.

Paper Boat Apps is the developer and publisher of children’s digital gamified learning app ‘Kiddopia’, a gaming app for kids in the US. Nazara will also consider merging Paper Boat Apps into the company at the appropriate time to bring home gamified learning IP ‘Kiddopia’, it said.

This step will allow Nazara to benefit from healthy cash flows that can be reinvested for organic as well as inorganic growth, it added further.

Back in 2019, Nazara acquired a 50.91% stake in Paper Boat Apps.

Paper Boat Apps posted a consolidated revenue of INR 219.4 Cr and an EBITDA of INR 56.1 Cr in FY24, as of March 2024, Nazara claimed.

“At Nazara, we believe an IP such as Kiddopia has immense potential that can be unlocked through several new initiatives and acquiring full ownership underscores our commitment to intensifying our efforts in the gamified learning sector,” Nitish Mittersain, CEO and joint managing director of Nazara Technologies, said.

For the last couple of months, Nazara and its subsidiaries are increasing stakes in earlier investments. In May, Nazara announced acquiring another 28.12% stake in Nextwave Multimedia Private Limited, the developers of the mobile cricket game franchise World Cricket Championship, for INR 21.6 Cr.

The fresh acquisition of a 100% stake in Nextwave will help Nazara in strengthening its portfolio of offerings in the virtual interactive sports genre in India and other emerging markets, the gaming and entertainment giant said.

Nazara Technologies-backed NODWIN Gaming’s Singapore-based subsidiary, NODWIN Gaming International Pte. Ltd, also picked up an additional 43.49% stake in Freaks 4U Gaming GmbH for around €23.4 Mn (~ INR 212.9 Cr).

Meanwhile, Nazara’s consolidated net profit declined 98% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 18 Lakh in Q4 FY24. Its operating revenue also declined 8% YoY to INR 266.2 Cr in the quarter.

The post Nazara Buys Paper Boat Apps For INR 300 Cr To Boost Kiddopia’s Global Expansion appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The Supreme Court will dispose of in the second week of September the cross petitions filed by Google and the Competition Commission of India (CCI) against the verdict of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in the Android devices antitrust case. 

This was announced by a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, which was hearing the pleas challenging the NCLAT’s earlier decision to retain a fine of INR 1,388 Cr on Google for abusing its dominant position in the Android devices space.

As per news agency PTI, the SC said it will hear the petitions in the second week of September after advocate Harish Salve said the plea may be kept for final disposal later. The case is likely to be listed for hearing on September 10. 

The matter traces its origins to 2022 when the CCI imposed a fine of INR 1,337.6 Cr on Google for abusing its dominant position in the Indian Android devices segment. The competition watchdog also directed the company to undertake sweeping changes to its operations in the country to comply with anti trust regulations. 

In March 2023, Google moved the NCLAT and challenged the CCI’s order. Subsequently, the appellate tribunal, while upholding the CCI’s fine, set aside certain directions issued by the CCI.

Eventually, in June last year, Google moved the apex court and challenged the NCLAT’s verdict. In its plea, Google contended that the CCI failed to conduct an “impartial, balanced, and legally sound investigation” while ignoring evidence from Indian users, app developers, and OEMs.

Unhappy with the verdict, the CCI also filed a petition before the SC and challenged a part of the NCLAT’s judgement, which set aside four of the 10 directives it imposed on the tech giant. 

Google had argued that the statutory scheme of the Act indicated that to be held abusive, the conduct of a dominant enterprise or group has to be anticompetitive and there has to be an effect analysis on this, a stand opposed by the CCI.

The developments come at a time when CCI has cracked the whip on big tech majors operating in the country. Earlier this year, the market watchdog also found another big tech Apple guilty of abusing its dominant position in the app store market. 

The post Google Vs CCI: SC To Dispose Pleas Challenging NCLAT’s Order In September appeared first on Inc42 Media.