Journalist turned entrepreneur duo launches Indy Network to redefine infotainment on digital

Former Bloomberg colleagues Mini Menon and Alok Nair have teamed up to launch the Indy Network to curate, co-create and distribute content in the infotainment space on digital.

Former Bloomberg colleague and now business partners, Mini Menon and Alok Nair have formed a strategic partnership to launch Indy Network Pvt Ltd. The platform will curate, co-create and deliver original, multimedia content, targeting viewers in the 15 -45-year age group who primarily consume media on their phones.

Since the company's main play is in the digital medium, the duo have brought Akshay Chavan, a domain expert, as the third partner in the company. Currently completely funded by the trio, Indy Network will eventually look at raising funds, but that will happen over the course of the year Nair says. In the first phase of the roll-out, Indy Network will work with key partners and talent who will help create content that is appealing to the TG.

Infotainment is a genre that existing broadcast networks have not explored on digital in a big way. For one, the content production cost for the TV shows/documentaries is high, and simply replicating the content model on the digital medium will not do. "Also, in traditional media, we have segmented the viewers in precise buckets and thus there are content gaps that need to be served. In reality, someone who sees a business news channel, may be equally interested in trekking or deep sea diving or history. With technology, we can target this audience, and direct content that is relevant to them their way," says Menon, founder and editor, Indy Network.

Co- founder and CEO, Nair adds that digital media consumption will only grow and the space is already a competitive one. Infotainment thus was a genre where the network would have had a first mover advantage, giving them the opportunity to mould the way the genre evolves on the medium. "It is time to bring in a fresh set of entrepreneurs in the infotainment business. We are excited with the tremendous opportunity that digital offers & are hoping to create innovative content platforms with strategic partners catering to a diverse audience set across niches. We believe the infotainment space will see a huge growth in the next few years and Indy Network shall be a key contributor. The spirit of our enterprise is collaboration. We look forward to this exciting new journey," he says.

Collaboration will not only be at the creative level, but also in terms of branded content. However, the network will try and steer clear of the traditional forms of branded content, and will look at partnerships that can be sustained over a period of time. The content will include both text and video, and the network currently has an advertising driven revenue model.

The content slate is expected to roll-out by the end of September this year.