The global digital newsstand Magzter, which boasts a collection of over 8,500 high-quality magazines and newspapers, has been acquired by VerSe Innovation, the parent company of the vernacular news aggregator Dailyhunt.
VerSe Innovation, the company that makes digital media tech in India, said in a press release that this move represents a turning point in the company’s history and Dailyhunt’s strategic entry into the premium content market.
This subscription-based service, formerly known as Dailyhunt Premium, will give users access to top-notch content from global publishers in more than 60 languages, including English, French, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, and others. This comprises internationally recognized magazines like Time, Fortune, The Economist, Forbes, Reader’s Digest, Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Elle, Vanity Fair, New Yorker, and Bazaar, in addition to others, in both their Indian and foreign editions.
As per Dailyhunt, this expansion aims to meet the demand for premium content of superior quality, specifically targeting the discriminating tastes of India’s upper-middle-class and affluent population.
“This partnership opens up new avenues for delivering high-quality content experiences to users across India, further strengthening our goal of providing unparalleled digital reading experiences to our readers,” said Girish Ramdas and Vijayakumar Radhakrishnan, co-founders of Magzter in a joint statement.
Magzter was founded in 20211 and has amassed over 87 million users since then. It claims to have over 1.1 million active paying subscribers from India alone. The company further states that it is now the biggest and fastest-growing digital newsstand in the world.
Along with this, Dailyhunt’s revenue model has evolved with this acquisition, moving from just advertising to a combination of subscription-based income sources.
As reported by the media, VerSe’s total revenue increased from Rs 1,151 crore in FY22 to Rs 1,809 crore in FY23, a YoY growth of 57%. Meanwhile, the company’s losses for FY23 were 259 crores. The company has not yet submitted its audited estimates for FY24.
With the help of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Dailyhunt raised $805 million in its most recent equity round in April 2022, valuing the company at $5 billion. To date, the company has raised over $1.5 billion in multiple rounds.
