Rainshine Invests In 3 Digital Media Companies To Create Online Content

Mumbai-based Rainshine Entertainment announced the acquisition of significant stakes in Culture Machine, Weirdass Comedy and Kinsane Entertainment yesterday (February 5).

Rainshine Entertainment is a media and entertainment (M&E) company cofounded by Neeraj Bhargava, Mihir Modi and Anuraag Srivastava in 2018. The company has a portfolio consisting of content creators across various genres, formats and languages.

With these three deals, Rainshine will have teams located in Mumbai, Los Angeles, New York, Chennai and Hyderabad. The primary focus of the company will be to create content across four genres drama, comedy, music and kids/fantasy.

Neeraj Bhargava, chairman and CEO, Rainshine Entertainment, commenting on  three acquisitions, said, “We are delighted to partner with Sameer Pitalwalla, Vir Das and Kurt Inderbitzin along with their respective teams at Culture Machine, Weirdass Comedy and Kinsane Entertainment, invest in the businesses and help them build iconic and enviable content brands.”

Mumbai-based, Culture Machine is a digital media company founded by Sameer Pitalwalla and Venkat Prasad in 2013. It is a subsidiary of The Aleph Group, Singapore and has offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad. In 2015,  Culture Machine has raised $18 Mn in Series B (INR 128.76 Cr) investment from Tiger Global Management.  

Weirdass Comedy is a comedy content studio and consultancy, cofounded by comedians Vir Das, Girish Talwar and Anuraag Srivastava in November 2016. In a short span of time, Mumbai-based, Weirdass Comedy has created highly popular original content for platforms such as Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and Applause, and some of India’s largest comedy tours and festivals.

New York-based, Kinsane Entertainment, Inc. is a global digital entertainment company focused on 2 year olds to 15 year-olds and families. The company was cofounded by Kurt Inderbitzin, Ashok Kunder, and Neeraj Bhargava in 2017. Kinsane has teams located in Mumbai, Los Angeles and New York. Kinsane has raised $2.5 Mn in Angel funding in January 2018.

Digital entertainment is a wide segment in India, influenced by players such as Gaana, Hotstar, Netflix, Amazon Prime and more. According to EY’s report on the industry, growth in digital media businesses would overtake TV, print, radio or music concerts at 26% CAGR between 2016 and 2021.

According to Boston Consulting Group (BCG) report ‘Entertainment Goes Online’, Video content delivered through the internet is expected to reach a market size of $5 Bn (INR 35,730 Cr) by 2023.

Commenting on Rainshine Entertainment’s future plans, Neeraj Bhargava said, “We are currently assessing several deals and will add 3-4 acquisitions in the near future to comprehensively address our targeted genres and build a new industry leader.”

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