According to the Economic Times, Indore-based STAGE, the World’s first OTT platform in indigenous Indian languages/dialects, has raised Rs 40 crore in a fundraising round led by Blume Ventures.
STAGE is an Indian language content platform (OTT) for artist-led entertainment such as poetry, comedy, and storytelling.
Other investors in the new round of fundraising included NB Ventures, Dholakia Ventures, TSM Ventures, WeFounderCircle, Mumbai Angels, and Tarmac Ventures, according to the Economic Times.
Existing investors Better Capital, IPV, TCA, and Venture Catalysts joined the investment round as well. The business intends to use the newly obtained cash to expand into Haryana and Rajasthan, develop more original content, and grow the product.
By mid-2024, the business hopes to acquire 10% of the 25 million or so households in Haryana and Rajasthan that view video content. STAGE intends to launch in the top 20 dialects of the country by 2027, with the potential to reach 200 million or more households.
Founded in 2019, by Praveen Singhal, Shashank Vaishnav and Vinay Singhal, STAGE allows the artists to create local standup content for the local audience in their local context and dialects, a “STAGE” that allows the artists to distribute and monetize their content, a STAGE that allows the audience to discover highly curated local standup content that connects with them.
Last year in March, STAGE raised Rs 3.5 crore in an angel round led by Inflection Point Ventures. Paytm’s founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma also participated in the funding in his personal capacity, along with Sprout Investment Fund and Giridhar Malpani, founder of Climber Capital.
Currently, STAGE offers content in Haryanvi and Rajasthani languages only and is available on Mobile (android and iOS), TV, Web and Tablets.