Over-the-top (OTT) platform that focuses on regional languages With the help of Blume Ventures and Good Water, Stage has raised $12.5 million in its Series B round.
Aayush Phumbra (founder of Chegg) and Harsh Shah (co-founder of Fynd) were among the angel investors who contributed $2.5 million as secondaries in the round. Other current investors who took part included Physis Capital, Mumbai Angels, Chennai Angels, Venture Catalysts, and IPV.
The money will be used by the organization to celebrate different cultures, connect with more people, share more stories, and support the importance of each and every cultural identity.
Stage is a hyper-localized over-the-top (OTT) platform that was launched in November 2019 by Vinay Singhal, Shashank Vaishnav, and Parveen Singhal. It provides trending, entertaining, and educational content in a number of languages and dialects, including Rajasthani and Haryanvi.
According to the company, there are over 4.4 million paying subscribers and 20 million users.
Stage recorded a six-fold increase in revenue to Rs 17.9 crore for the fiscal year that ended in March 2024 (FY24), while also reducing its losses by 4% to Rs 22.1 crore.
The company claims that its current ARR is Rs 180 crore.
Its rivals in the regional OTT market include OM TV, Planet Marathi, Chaupal, and Aha Video. Planet Marathi raised $5 million in July 2024 under the direction of A & MA Capital, a private equity firm based in the United States. According to reports, Chaupal and Aha Video are negotiating a new round.
