Dailyhunt parent acquires Magzter digital newsstand platform
VerSe Innovation, the parent company of Indian news aggregator app Dailyhunt, has acquired the digital newsstand platform Magzter. The Bengaluru-based startup has fully taken over the New York-based firm, which is backed by Singapore Press Holdings. The financial specifics of this transaction have not been disclosed. The acquisition is considered a significant milestone in VerSe's growth strategy and is their largest to date, according to Umang Bedi, co-founder of VerSe.
Magzter will continue independent operations
Magzter, a platform providing access to over 8,500 magazine titles with an active global user base of 87 million, has been fully integrated into VerSe's portfolio. Despite the acquisition, Magzter will continue its operations as an independent service. The platform has more than one million paid subscribers in India alone. VerSe Innovation is set to launch Dailyhunt Premium this year, which will offer an ad-free experience along with access to Magzter's extensive catalog.
Dailyhunt to introduce personalized news feed in Magzter
Dailyhunt, a $5 billion company backed by CPP Investments, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, Qatar Investment Authority, Carlyle Group, and Goldman Sachs, initiated talks with Magzter last year. The Indian firm plans to introduce a personalized news feed in Magzter that will curate stories and articles from the digital newsstand app's wide range of magazine titles. Magzter upholds collaborations with several major publishers, and offers titles such as The New Yorker, The Economist, Vanity Fair and Time on its app.
Verse and Magzter's future plans
Magzter founders Girish Ramdas and Vijayakumar Radhakrishnan expressed in a joint statement that the partnership with VerSe "opens up new avenues for delivering high-quality content experiences to users across India." They'll continue their work on Magzter post-acquisition. Meanwhile, VerSe is working on improving its financial health. Bedi stated that the startup is projected to achieve EBITDA profitability at a group level by 2025. The startup also recently initiated discussions with Indian social media platform Koo regarding a potential acquisition.
