VerSe Innovation Pvt. Ltd, which funded $805 million in April, has announced the launch of Dailyhunt, its main news and content aggregation business in the Middle East, according to a key executive. This comes after the Dailyhunt business broke even in the last three months in terms of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda).
Dailyhunt reported 3-4 percent Ebitda in the last three months, according to Umang Bedi, co-founder of VerSe Innovation, in keeping with the company’s stated goal of profitability at the parent level in the next two to three years.
Dailyhunt will first be offered in English and Arabic in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait in the Middle East. Local languages such as Farsi and Hebrew will be added progressively.
“Our strength is local languages, and we see a similar pattern here as in India, where local languages are a dominant portion of the internet across content and other consumer behaviours,” Bedi added.
One of the reasons for choosing the Middle East for the international venture, he explained, was the population scale. Around 60 million people live in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, which includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman.
According to Bedi, the population of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is around 300 million people. Other reasons for it to target this region included increased internet penetration, particularly in the GCC, which is currently at 98 percent, strong news consumption among the general population, and the advertising market’s development potential.
Shekhar Iyer, who has been named as director and general manager, will lead Dailyhunt’s Middle East activities, which will be based in Dubai. Over 5,000 content partners catering to the UAE market have already joined the organisation.
MENA Newswire, Al Khaleej, The Brew, Chalk Media, Brandknew, KKompany, Mudgal Kreations, Buzzing, and others will soon be working with the local language content platform. It also mentioned The Brew, Chalk Media, Brandknew, KKompany, Mudgal Kreations, Buzzing, and Gulf Today in a separate statement.
Meanwhile, Bedi stated that the company is now well-capitalized and does not require further funding for its international expansion.
In an April investment round headed by CPP Investments, VerSe Innovation, which also includes short video editor Josh and hyperlocal community news platform PublicVibe, raised $805 million at a valuation of roughly $5 billion.
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