Unicorn VerSe Innovation raises another $100 mn from global investors

The DailyHunt and Josh parent is now valued at $1.1 billion

Local language technology platform VerSe Innovation has raised over $100 million in a Series H funding round led by global investors Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the sovereign wealth fund of the State of Qatar and Glade Brook Capital Partners. Canaan Valley Capital and existing investor Sofina Group also participated in this round. The investment in DailyHunt and Josh parent follows close on the heels of a $100 million plus fund raise from technology giants Google, Microsoft and AlphaWave in December last year.

The December fundraise had catapult VerSe Innovation in the unicorn club making it  the country's first unicorn in tech for local languages. According to sources, after the fresh capital infusion, VerSe Innovation now has a valuation of $1.1 billion.

VerSe Innovation is currently in the process of expanding its family of apps through its short video platform Josh, which is available in 12 local languages. The company plans to deploy the fundraise in the continued scaling up of Josh. “This will include the augmentation of local language content offerings, the development of its content creator ecosystem, innovation in AI and ML and more importantly, creation of opportunity for India’s vast talent pool,” said the Bengaluru-headquartered company. 

Currently, Josh is one of the fastest growing and most engaged short-video app in India with over 85 million monthly active users, 40 million daily active users and 1.5 billion video plays per day. 

Dailyhunt cofounder Umang Bedi had earlier told Business Standard that the company is in the process of building a family of apps starting with Josh to make it the largest local languages platform in the country, aiming to be bigger than Facebook. The company wants to reach a billion users via its made in India apps by FY25. Overall vernacular content platform Dailyhunt has 300 million users who consume content in their local language. 

Avendus Capital was the financial advisor to VerSe Innovation on the transaction.