VerSe Innovation acquires social networking app

     VerSe Innovation acquires social networking app GolBol – third strategic buy in 2021

VerSe Innovation, India’s biggest local language technology platform, today announced the acquisition of GolBol, a made-in-India social networking app. VerSe that recently marked the first anniversary of its short-video app Josh will bring on board GolBol’s entire team including co-founders Shanu Vivek, Karandeep Singh Gujral and Kaushik Mahato to help accelerate the work being done to modernize and multiply the impact of Josh.

Shanu and the team are very well versed with the techniques that allow diverse users to socialize with digital content and will focus their efforts on enhancing Josh Cam – a powerful mobile video editing app designed exclusively for users and creators of the short-video ecosystem. The app with its intuitive and sleek multi-layer editing interface, allows short-video users to impart a professional touch to their content. The team will also drive efficiencies in AI & ML to build UGC discovery initiatives that have the power to detect quality content from a stream of several thousand videos and classify these videos at scale so that users on Josh enjoy the latest, most unique and authentic content experiences.

Speaking about the acquisition, Shailendra Sharma, SVP Product & Engineering at VerSe Innovation, said, “VerSe’s clear growth strategy for Josh grounded in an entrepreneurial mindset has motivated this alliance with some of India’s brightest minds and passionate innovators who understand how Bharat consumes, creates and engages with content. Not only does this power our commitment to build Bharat’s biggest digital platform that captures the mindshare, timeshare and revenue share of local language users. It also validates our culture of learning and mentorship, and our intent to build an entrepreneurship hub to nurture and accelerate the ideas of young entrepreneurs in India’s content-tech ecosystem.”

Excited to come on board, Shanu Vivek, CEO and Co-founder of GolBol, said, “GolBol was born from the simple idea to motivate local language users to share their lives online through an easy-to-use product. We had larger plans and wanted to solve for Bharat’s diverse content needs. The ambition and clarity of thought demonstrated by the leadership at Josh convinced us that this was the right fit. We are aligned with the company’s vision to deliver a family of apps for a Bharat audience and believe that where Josh gains from our experience, we have access to resources and world-class tech at Josh to create greater impact.”

This acquisition is in line with VerSe Innovation’s vision to build cutting-edge digital capabilities to serve Bharat’s unmet content needs, bookending the year that also saw its acquisition of AI-startup Cognirel Technologies and photo and video sharing app, Vebbler.

Josh adds another dimension to content creation

 Josh adds another dimension to content creation, launches JoshCam

-becomes India’s first short-video app to introduce a special video editing app to enhance user experience-

Having established itself as a leader in the short-video space, India’s fastest growing and most-engaged short-video app, Josh today announced the launch of its JoshCam app on Google Play Store and App store. With this announcement, Josh becomes the first short-video app to introduce a powerful mobile video editing app designed exclusively for users and creators of the short-video ecosystem. The app is aimed at allowing users to create high quality content in a matter of seconds backed by a range of ready-to-use templates and editing features. JoshCam comes loaded with a variety of exciting tools, filters, beauty effects, music and sound effects allowing users to impart a professional touch to their content.

 

Envisioned to streamline the process of creating and editing high-quality content, JoshCam offers hundreds of ready-to-use motion video templates with pre-made filters and effects. Using the app’s intuitive and sleek multi-layer editing interface, the users can apply seamless cinematic transitions and animations to their videos and images. What makes it more exciting to use are the multiple filters and background effects that can change the world around users (virtually of course!). Adding to an already amazing list of features, the app also allows users to explore funky effects like light leaks, split screens, bling among others, that will breathe life into videos and images.

 

Apart from all the cool filters and effects, the app has a vast music library that contains thousands of songs and sound effects to choose from. The users can either choose their favorite track from the stock library or can simply add a track from their own device.

 

Moreover, the JoshCam app has been designed to function with other media sharing social platforms allowing the users to share high quality content on the go. Once a video is created or an image has been clicked, the users get an option to share their created content on any application of their choice, including the Josh app.

 

Speaking at the product launch, Shailendra Sharma, Senior Vice President – Product & Engineering, VerSe Innovation, said, “At Josh, we are on a mission to provide the best of opportunities to our users and creators. Our platform capabilities continue to be our biggest differentiator and the addition of the JoshCam app reinforces our mission to give our users and creators the best experience on a short-video app. While the JoshCam comes loaded with numerous features and effects, we have specifically simplified the UI of the app for more accessibility. The app’s robust technology and user-friendly interface will further allow users to impart a professional touch to their content.”

 

The JoshCam app is available for free on the Android and iOS app stores. Download now to get your hands on the most powerful mobile video editing app and create fabulous content for your viewers and followers.

Badshah arrives on Josh, headlines CreatorThon in

 Badshah arrives on Josh, headlines CreatorThon in Maldives

~joins the Josh family exclusively till the end of the year~

~sets the bar for the 24-day, 3-city content marathon with a first-of-its-kind creator workshop~

 

Josh, India’s fastest growing and most-engaged short video app, has taken the creator world by storm with ‘CreatorThon’ – a content creation marathon designed exclusively for the family of Josh creators. After a successful first leg in Pondicherry, CreatorThon has travelled overseas to the island nation of Maldives, where an exclusive set of 10 Josh creators was paid a surprise visit by the king of desi-pop, Badshah. For Josh users, this is only the start of this content gala with Badshah who will also be exclusively associated with Josh till the end of the year.

 

In Maldives, Badshah was seen mentoring this select group of creators from across India in a first-of-its-kind workshop, who also got the chance of a lifetime to jam with him on a private yacht and groove to his hits. The highlight of the day was an early preview to Badshah’s upcoming single ‘Pani Pani’ which releases at the end of the month. The three-day event in Maldives packed with outdoor activities and professional shoots will manifest as exciting, short-video content on the Josh app. 

 

Concluding an action-packed day with these creators on the beautiful beaches of Maldives,Badshah said, “Kehte hain, log josh mein hosh kho bethte hai. But here, at this CreatorThon on Josh, we’re all in, we’re all charged, and I’ve had the best time reliving my work and my music through the lens of a short-video platform. Inspiration comes to creators in different forms, and the challenge and stimulation that accompanies this form of entertainment is infectious. Short-video is all the rage today, and I’m so excited to watch this new generation of creators make use of these perfectly-created opportunities to redefine where, when and how India consumes content.”

 

Welcoming Badshah to the family and sharing her excitement all the way from Maldives, Seher Bedi, Head of Josh Studios said, “CreatorThon is truly creator haven and just the start of a long, committed journey in discovering our stars of tomorrow. Badshah’s arrival today and his continued association with the platform is a huge boost for Josh in our attempt to break down the barriers between superstars and emerging creators and give the latter the platform they so very well deserve.”

 

Josh is a made-in-India, short-video app launched in September 2020 by VerSe Innovation. It represents a confluence of India’s top 200+ best creators, the 10 biggest music labels, 15+ million UGC creators, best in class content creation tools, the hottest entertainment formats, and formidable user demographics. Josh has been consistently rated as the leading Indian short-video app in India on the Play store with 100 million downloads. Currently, Josh is the fastest growing and most engaged short-video app in India with over 88 million MAUs (Monthly Active Users), 42 million DAUs (Daily Active Users) and 1.75+ billion video plays per day.

VerSe Innovation, India’s First Unicorn in Tech for

 VerSe Innovation, India’s First Unicorn in Tech for Local Languages Acquires Photo-and-Video Sharing App Vebbler, its second acquisition in 2 weeks

 ~The camera-first, interest-based community platform brings AI based neural art filters & tools to Josh~

~VerSe Innovation recently acquired AI-startup Cognirel Technologies~

VerSe Innovation, India’s biggest local language technology platform, announced that it has acquired Vebbler, an interest-based community-focused photo and video sharing app launched by Sahil Bhagat. This is the second acquisition in two weeks for VerSe Innovation who recently acquired AI-startup Cognirel Technologies. With the acquisition of Vebbler, the company which recently emerged as India’s first tech unicorn for local languages, advances in its mission to build the largest digital media platform that serves unmet content needs of millions of consumers using technology.

 

Speaking on the acquisition, VerSe Innovation Founder Virendra Gupta and Co-Founder Umang Bedi, said, “The combination of Vebbler’s product capabilities with our platform will improve our ability to drive innovation around the camera and social engagement and play a more meaningful role in capturing the mindshare, timeshare, and revenue share of Bharat’s local language users. We have every intent to make good on our investor and consumer confidence and will continue to build and acquire powerful tools and technologies that deliver products which are consumer-focused and content-forward. We welcome the Vebbler team and look forward to creating an exciting future together.”

 

Vebbler lets people join groups called ‘clubs’ and share photos and videos around different interests, whether it’s fashion, travel, photography or entertainment. With over 100+ categories, users create content using Vebbler’s camera, packed with superior creation tools such as AI-based neural-art filters, effects, stickers, GIFs, drawing tools and fonts along with proprietary technology on video processing and editing. Leveraging Vebbler’s camera and community  will give Josh a powerful differentiator in the market and present millions of Josh users the additional opportunity to harness India’s diverse creativity and talent.   

Sahil Bhagat, Founder, Vebbler also shares, “My vision with Vebbler was to build a video first social media platform out of India. Our use case, domain understanding, technology expertise is unique in the Indian market. In VerSe Innovation’s vision, we find strategic synergies between Josh and Vebbler. This deal speaks volumes to the value and quality of our product. We are extremely excited to work together and inch closer to our shared vision of building a global product with Josh.”

 

Vebbler was backed initially by actors Dino Morea and Nikhil Chinapa. Originally, Vebbler was designed as a private way to share photos and videos with friends in real-time at events, such as holidays, weddings and concerts, which then pivoted into an interest-based network in 2018.

In the last three months, Josh, has attracted over a $200M+ investment from global marquee investors such as Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the sovereign wealth fund of the State of Qatar, and Glade Brook Capital Partners, along with Google, Microsoft, and AlphaWave (a unit of Falcon Edge Capital).

Josh is a made-in-India, short-video app launched in September 2020 by VerSe Innovation. It represents a confluence of India’s top 200+ best creators, the 10 biggest music labels, 15+ million UGC creators, best in class content creation tools, the hottest entertainment formats, and formidable user demographics. Josh has been consistently rated as the leading Indian short-video app in India on the Play store. Currently, Josh is the fastest growing and most engaged short-video app in India with over 85 million MAUs (Monthly Active Users), 40 million DAUs (Daily Active Users) and 1.5+ billion video plays per day.

Josh, India’s leading short-video platform, sets up

Josh, India’s leading short-video platform, sets up Josh Studios,
ropes in iconic content creator Seher Bedi as Head of Josh Studios

VerSe Innovation’s short video app Josh has today announced the setting up of Josh Studios, with the appointment of iconic content creator Seher Bedi. Effective immediately, Seher joins Josh as the Head of Josh Studios and will be based in Bengaluru. Seher is recognized for her pioneering work in youth entertainment, being one of the first hires of MTV when it was launched in India. Seher has and created and produced iconic content in India; from MTV Loveline, Heavy Mental, Youth Icon of the Year, Club MTV, MTV Grind Bollywood and so on. Seher is currently a jury member of the prestigious Asian Academy Creative Awards for content from across the Asia Pacific region.

In her new role as head of Josh Studios, Seher will be spearheading Josh Studios, scaling the short-video platform’s content capabilities to create a cutting-edge content and talent hub. Seher will be adding her unique creative signature to deliver differentiated content for Josh Studios. She will develop and lead a team of over 100 entertainment professionals to create a content landscape for Josh which every creator in the country will want to be a part of.

Before Josh, Seher Bedi was busy creating youth content with her own production company and prior to that Seher was Head of Creative & Content for MTV, handling key MTV portfolio brands like Coke Studio, MTV Bakra, Splitsvilla, The Real Chat House & more.

Welcoming her into the mahagathbandhan, Josh Founder Virendra Gupta and Co-founder Umang Bedi, shared, ”Seher is a force of nature and we are excited to welcome her into the Josh family. Josh is our prized property that is getting built with great love and ambition, and Seher’s passion for content is an indicator of greater things to come for our consumers and creators. We are excited to ride this wave together, and no one would do better justice than Seher, who brings with her the potent and skilled knowledge of the kind of content that makes young India tick.”

Seher Bedi in her new role as Head of Josh Studios, added “I am thrilled to join Josh which I believe is a fantastic opportunity for me to embark on yet another new transformative journey of reimagining the content landscape in Bharat across short form video. I look forward to breathing inspiring, sexy, cool, entertaining ideas into creating the next wave of legendary, iconic content and creators!  I thank Umang and Viru for this opportunity to share in their vision to create real impact, to celebrate and inspire young India.”

In the last three months, Josh, has attracted over a $200M+ investment from global marquee investors such as Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the sovereign wealth fund of the State of Qatar, and Glade Brook Capital Partners, along with Google, Microsoft, and AlphaWave (a unit of Falcon Edge Capital).

Josh is a made-in-India, short-video app launched in September 2020 by VerSe Innovation. It represents a confluence of India’s top 200+ best creators, the 10 biggest music labels, 15+ million UGC creators, best in class content creation tools, the hottest entertainment formats, and formidable user demographics. Josh has been consistently rated as the leading Indian short-video app in India on the Play store. Currently, Josh is the fastest growing and most engaged short-video app in India with over 85 million MAUs (Monthly Active Users), 40 million DAUs (Daily Active Users) and 1.5+ billion video plays per day.

VerSe Innovation Raises $100M+ from

 VerSe Innovation Raises $100M+ from AlphaWave, Google and Microsoft For Josh, India’s leading short video platform

Becomes India’s First Tech Unicorn For Local Languages

VerSe Innovation today announced it has completed a $100 million+ round of funding from global marquee investors AlphaWave (a unit of Falcon Edge Capital), Google and Microsoft. Existing investors Sofina Group and Lupa Systems also participated in this round. Other existing blue-chip investors of VerSe Innovation include the likes of Matrix Partners India, Sequoia Capital India, Falcon Edge Capital, Goldman Sachs etc. With this new infusion of capital, the company is now valued at over $1 billion, making its debut as the first unicorn in tech for local languages.

The new funding comes at a time when VerSe Innovation is expanding its family of apps focused on Bharat, through its leading short video platform – Josh. Josh is made-in-Bharat-for-Bharat-by-Bharat-in 12-Bhartiya-languages-hosted-in-Bharat short video platform. Josh is the manifestation of VerSe Innovation’s commitment to Bharat across three big vectors. First, VerSe plans to play a leading role in the Digital Bharat and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives. Second, VerSe plans to empower the large and indigenous ecosystem of hundreds of millions of users and talented creators in every nook and corner of our country. Third, VerSe aims to underline and promote the rich heritage and culture of India, aggregating such content and delivering it to the masses.

VerSe plans to deploy its new capital steadily in the continued scaling up of Josh, the augmentation of local language content offerings, the development of content creator ecosystem, innovation in AI and ML and the growth of its truly made-in-Bharat-for-Bharat short-video platform.

Josh represents a confluence of India’s top 200+ best creators, the 10 biggest music labels, 15+ million UGC creators, best in class content creation tools, the hottest entertainment formats, and formidable user demographics. Josh has been consistently rated as the #1 Indian short-video app in India on the Play store. Currently, Josh is the fastest growing and most engaged short-video app in India with over 77 million MAUs (Monthly Active Users), 36 million DAUs (Daily Active Users) and 1.5+ billion video plays per day.

VerSe Innovation’s proprietary technology platform also powers various technology solutions including 300 million + users on Dailyhunt to consume content in their local language. Dailyhunt is India’s #1 vernacular content platform offering content artifacts every day in 14 languages. Content on Dailyhunt is sourced from a licensed creator ecosystem of over 100,000 content partners and individual content creators. This solid business foundation and capital infusion now sets the Company on a path of rapid growth, as it explores other international geographies to extend its broad based tech platforms in serving similar unmet content needs of local language audiences globally.