Dailyhunt and Josh apps parent firm: VerSe Innovation raises worth $805 million at $5 billion valuation
- ByStartupStory | April 6, 2022
VerSe Innovation, the parent firm of news aggregator app Dailyhunt and short video app Josh, at a time when a number of startups are finding it difficult to raise capital, said on Wednesday that it has raised $805 million.
The startup, is valued at nearly $5 billion in the new round, up from about $3 billion just eight months ago, which has built one of the largest adtech businesses in the country and is also driving commerce through its apps, said it’s co-founders in an interview.
Its largest investment to date in the region, the round — a Series J — was led by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments). The round also saw participation from Luxor Capital, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers’), and Sumeru Ventures as well as existing backers Sofina Group and Baillie Gifford also participated.
Brings VerSe Innovation’s all-time raise to about $2 billion (some through secondary transactions), the new round — the largest in the Indian startup ecosystem this year (beating Byju’s $800 million). Along with its existing reserves, gives it runway for “several years”, the startup says that after receiving a plethora of inbound offers and that the new capital, it raised capital.
Over 150 million users has been amassed by short video app, Josh, of whom 50 million create and publish content. The app, clocks over 80 billion plays on its app each month, which has partnered with 15 music labels, the startup said.
News aggregator app Dailyhunt, has over 350 million users, whereas the startup’s recently launched app PublicVibe now serves over 5 million monthly active users, which operates in 15 languages and has a creator ecosystem of over 100,000 content partners.
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