Children's books' start-up Bookosmia buys mythological stories app Mytha

A two-year-old publishing and content startup Bookosmia, has acquired Mytha, an Indian mythological stories app for children, in an all-stock deal. The valuations and other financial details were not disclosed.

Based out of Hong Kong, Mytha was launched in 2015 by a former financial journalist Ambika Behal with an aim of creating a digital content platform for storytelling.

Bookosmia, started by ex-banker Nidhi Mishra, curates and publishes stories for children through physical books, e-books and audio formats. It has published two books under titles ‘I wish I were’ and ‘Yaksha’. The company also operates an e-store that has colouring books, puzzles and gift boxes for children.

Through the acquisition of Mytha, Bookosmia will add a library of over 40 mythological digital stories and two published books, said co-founder Archana Mohan. Bookosmia plans to release these stories in the digital format, followed by physical book versions. 

Bookosmia, which means 'smell of books', aims to promote the habit of reading among children. It also aims to launch a few titles in future that will be authored by children themselves. 

There is a huge demand for homegrown content for children as seen in the phenomenal success of books like Gajapati Kulapati, Susie will not speak, The Vedas and Upanishads for children and shows like Chhota Bheem and Little Singham. Content in vernacular languages is also catalysing growth with reports suggesting that 75 per cent of new internet users prefer content in their own (regional) languages.