Hyperlocal News Platform Way2News Raises $14 Mn Funding To Bolster Presence In South India 

Hyperlocal news platform Way2News has raised $14 Mn (about INR 117 Cr) in its Series B funding round led by existing investor WestBridge Capital. The round also saw participation from venture capitalist Sashi Reddi, who also invested in the startup’s last funding round.

In a statement, Way2News said it plans to use the fresh proceeds to strengthen its operations, enhance its technology, and bolster its foothold in South India.  

The startup said that it will strengthen its presence in its existing markets, including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu, while also expanding to Karnataka and Kerala.

Founded in 2015 by Raju Vanapala, Way2News is a Hyderabad-based news platform providing short format news in eight vernacular languages, including Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Bangla, and Gujarati. 

It offers news in different niches including business, sports, politics, technology, digital magazines and entertainment. Its existing markets include Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu, with most of this revenue coming from the Telugu market. 

Way2News leverages citizen journalism, allowing citizens to share news from their local areas, to gather news. It claims to have over 50 Mn app downloads.

Commenting on the funding, Way2News founder and CEO Vanapala said, “… This investment is a step towards expanding our footprint into every household in South India, ensuring that all citizens can access timely and relevant news in their language.” 

Prior to this, Way2News raised $16.75 Mn in its Series A funding round at a post-money valuation of $60 Mn in 2022. That round also saw participation from WestBridge.

Speaking on the latest investment, WestBrigde partner Rishit Desai said, “Their rapid growth in the Telugu and Tamil markets is a testament to their vision and the strength of their model… We look forward to continuing our support for their vision to become the go-to platform for news, and we believe their unique approach will enable them to make significant inroads down south.”

Way2News competes with the likes of InShorts and DailyHunt in the news aggregation space. 

The startup claims to generate monthly revenue of INR 6 Cr and aims to grow this to INR 8 Cr by March 2025. 

With the growing adoption of smartphones and affordable internet, India’s consumer internet opportunity is expected to surpass $1.6 Bn mark by 2025. A major chunk of this opportunity is expected to be leveraged by the startups offering services in the regional languages. 

As a result, total revenue in the Indian news and magazine market is expected to show an annual growth rate of 12.57%, resulting in a projected market volume of $209.00 Mn by 2029.