Google Invests in Indian Digital Media Startups

New Generation Content Platforms Keep Gaining Momentum

The fact that Google’s CEO is Chennai-born Sundar Pichai has (most likely) little or nothing to do with the latest round of financing by the tech giant that was destined to support the growth of a couple of desi startups. Market analysis, experience and instinct, on the other hand, have shown them that the success of new-generation digital content platforms in India is far from accidental.

Last month, Google announced its investment in two such tech startups which continue changing the media and entertainment landscape of Indian netizens. Glance Digital Experience, part of InMobi Group, and DailyHunt, in turn owned by VerSe Innovation, received USD 145 and 100 million respectively in a show of support from a group of American investors.

Glance is an AI driven service which replaces the lock screen with locally relevant news and casual games such as Teen Patti. DailyHunt is an expanding digital content marketplace offering a wide range of news and entertainment in 14 Indian languages. Just a few months ago, Glance had acquired Roposo, another Bharat tech startup which runs a short-video sharing platform. DailyHunt has its own service in the segment, called Josh.

Following the TikTok ban imposed by Centre in June, video sharing apps have risen in popularity across the nation. More than a dozen are vying for the users’ attention, with Josh and Roposo among the leading candidates to fill the void left by the Chinese app’s forced departure from the second largest pool of internet users.

Crucially, the success of Glance and DailyHunt comes as a result of their positioning strategy. They offer local content in regional Indian languages and serve the mobile-first market, striving to bridge the digital divide across the nation. Unexploited user potential is the main target of genuinely Indian startups, as much as it is the basis for optimism by foreign investors.

Desi Tech Startups Building upon Strength

DailyHunt claims to have over 300 million users receiving its selection of news and entertainment across several Apps, including Josh. The current round of funding by Google, Microsoft and AlphaWave brought its value to just above USD 1 billion, making it a newly certified unicorn in the segment. Co-run by a former Facebook India head, it plans to use fresh liquidity to scale up Josh, improve its local language offer and the entire content creation ecosystem.

Glance reaches more than 115 active daily users – adding to Roposo’s 33 million monthly ones – accessing content in one of 10 desi languages on offer. Moreover, Glance is pre-installed on more than 100 million smartphones, making use of established business relations with most of the big mobile device producers in India – from Samsung and Xiaomi to Vivo and Realme. Beyond a more close partnership with Google, Glance’s financing will go towards product development and market expansion, including in the USA.

Google’s own USD 10 billion “India Digitization Fund” has already been tapped into, committing almost half to finance telecom giant Jio Platforms. Jio is also reportedly responsible for launching India’s pilot 5G network later this year. In times when many industries reel from Covid induced economic scale-downs, Google’s serial investments emphasise the company’s belief in India’s IT sector and innovative startups.