Business News | KathaVersse Media Network Secures Seed Funding for Its Universe & Franchise Driven Content IP Studio

ATK

New Delhi [India], September 21: KathaVersse Media Network, a universe and franchise-driven content IP studio committed to creating IPs with a minimum shelf life of 7 years for tier 2 and tier 3 masses, has secured seed funding of $400K led by Roshan Abbas (Founder: Encompass & Kommune | Investor Partner: Glitch & Chtrbx).

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Marquee Angel investors such as Gaurav Kapur (Producer | TV Presenter | Angel Investor), Samit Garg (Managing Director: E Factor Experiences Limited), Dhawal Gusain (Co-Founder: Postudio | Former CEO: TVF | Former EVP: Disney+Hotstar), Rajesh Rege (Former President: Honeywell India | Former Exec Dir: Microsoft India), Sujit Jha (Co-Founder: Ok Acquired | Angel Investor), Nitin Madan (Media Entrepreneur | Founder: Knit-Ink Digital) & WLDD (Integrated Meme & Culture Marketing Company) also invested in this round. Datta Dave (Partner & co-founder, Tulsea) is the advisor of the company.

Aakash Kumar (CEO) and Kshitiz Sudhakar (COO) founded KathaVersse to become India’s biggest universe and franchise-driven entertainment IP company. According to them, no other content studio in India has been able to crack the longevity of a content IP, and that’s the throne they want to capture.

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Both the founders have 7+ years of experience in digital-first filmmaking and have successfully created hit IPs and business verticals for India’s leading digital entertainment companies with a profitable PnL. In the past, they have successfully created IPs that garnered over 1.5 billion views collectively on social platforms. They have also created branded IPs with more than 100 advertisers. Their shows run on platforms like Sony Liv, Jio Cinema, Disney+hotstar, Zee5 and YouTube.

Both the founders said, 'We are building Marvel for Bharat and creating a Middle-Class Universe (MCU) under which we are developing characters, franchises, and formats to build a cult fandom and maximise ROI for audience, advertisers, and OTT partners. The company aims to scale its content business by adapting their video IPs in different formats such as Audio, Animation, Merchandise, and more.

With their content-first approach, they are building AVOD and SVOD verticals for fiction and nonfiction. They are bullish about building an IP-driven MCN on social platforms with an advertiser-supported model.

The revenue of the Indian video over-the-top (OTT) market is forecasted to double from $1.8 billion in 2022 to $3.5 billion by 2027, with a CAGR of 14.32%, according to PwC’s latest report titled 'Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2023–2027: India Perspective’. Industry experts suggest that the estimated market size for produced content in 2023 is approximately $1.2 billion.

Responding to a question, the lead investor, Roshan Abbas, said, “ In KathaVersse, I find the stories of the new MCU (Middle-Class Universe) that make the stories of Bharat. Kshitiz and Aakash are dynamic founders with passion and vision. At such a young age, they come with the best credentials and experience. In my attempt to be constantly engaged with the stories and storytellers of India, this is another expansion of the same vision”.

The USP of KathaVersse lies in their core team comprising of hardcore IP creators (writers, directors, creative producers) that take care of the company's universe-driven storytelling approach.

Their fiction brand Antenaaa Studios will soon release their original long-form content slate, some of which they want to commission and some they would self-produce. By March 2024, they are also coming up with their studio’s YouTube channel for premium fiction Web Shows to build their social distribution network.

On the non-fiction side, they are coming up with 6 IPs on their already existing brand, Digital Commentary, which has 106K subscribers. With Digital Commentary, they want to inspire, entertain and educate the audience and to be their one-stop companion for all the infotainment in the entertainment space. The non-fiction content on Digital Commentary will primarily revolve around premium chat shows, podcasts, reality shows, and game show IPs centred around films and web shows.

KathaVersse is being represented by Tulsea, a strategic media and content management company that represents India's leading writers, directors, actors and producers.

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