VerSe Innovation, the parent company of the vernacular news aggregator Dailyhunt, has completed the acquisition of Magzter, a global digital newsstand featuring a library of over 8,500 premium magazines and newspapers. This acquisition signifies a significant step for Dailyhunt, marking its entry into premium content and reflecting a pivotal moment in VerSe Innovation’s journey towards becoming India’s leading digital media tech conglomerate, as stated in a press release by the company.
The newly launched service, Dailyhunt Premium, will offer subscription-based access to premium content from international publishers in more than 60 languages, including English, French, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, and others. This includes renowned publications such as Time, Fortune, The Economist, Forbes, Reader’s Digest, Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Maxim, Elle, Vanity Fair, New Yorker, Bazaar, and others in their Indian and international editions.
Dailyhunt notes that this expansion addresses the growing demand for high-quality premium content, particularly catering to the discerning preferences of India’s elite and aspirational upper-middle-class demographic.
Girish Ramdas and Vijayakumar Radhakrishnan, the co-founders of Magzter, expressed their excitement about the partnership, emphasizing the opportunity it presents to deliver exceptional content experiences to users across India.
Magzter, established in 2011, boasts over 1.1 million active paying subscribers from India alone and a user base exceeding 87 million globally. It claims to be the world’s largest and fastest-growing digital newsstand.
Additionally, this acquisition signifies a shift in Dailyhunt’s revenue model from solely advertising-based to incorporating a combination of subscription-based revenue streams.
According to data from TheKredible, VerSe’s overall revenue grew by 57% year-on-year to Rs 1,809 crore in FY23 from Rs 1,151 crore in FY22, while its losses amounted to Rs 2,059 crore in FY23. The company is yet to disclose its audited numbers for FY24.
Dailyhunt has raised over $1.5 billion in funding across various rounds and was last valued at $5 billion in its previous equity round, which saw a $805 million investment led by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in April 2022.
