OTT Platform STAGE Raises INR 40 Cr To Produce More Content In Regional Languages

Dialect-based, hyperlocal over-the-top (OTT) platform STAGE has raised INR 40 Cr ($4.83 Mn) in a funding round led by Blume Ventures, with participation from NB Ventures, Dholakia Ventures, TSM Ventures, WeFounderCircle, Mumbai Angels, Tarmac Ventures, Tailwind Ventures, Longtail Ventures, Lets Ventures and AngelList.

Existing investors Better Capital, IPV, TCA, Venture Catalysts and some angel investors also participated in the funding round. With the latest round, STAGE has raised INR 71 Cr ($8.57 Mn) in funding from investors.

Founded in 2019 by Vinay Singhal, Shashank Vaishnav and Parveen Singhal, STAGE provides OTT content in Haryanvi and Rajasthani languages. The OTT startup started with Haryanvi content in 2019 and launched content in Rajasthani dialects in June 2022.

STAGE claims to have more than 225K subscribers, adding 25K subscribers each month. Currently, it produces content in two regional dialects.

Speaking on the development, Vinay Singhal, a cofounder of STAGE, said that the capital raised would be used to go deeper in Haryana and Rajasthan to create more original content and grow the product.

“We plan to capture 10% of 25 Mn+ households watching video content in Haryana and Rajasthan by mid-2024. STAGE’s vision is to become a platform for entertainment, connection and celebration of cultures for all dialect-speaking people in the country,” he said. 

The startup plans to launch content in the top 20 dialects of the country by 2027, which has the potential to reach 200 Mn+ households, Singhal added.

Karthik Reddy of Blume Ventures said, “STAGE’s slogan describes the passion and motivations of the team to build for the immense diversity of language and dialect that India offers. Building quality content is the best bet to conserve our dialects and languages and this is STAGE’s mission. With two dialects launched and dozens more to build, we are excited to be partners on this journey.”

India is one of the largest markets for OTT companies in the world, from both scale and monetisation standpoints. According to a recent report by the media consulting firm Ormax Media, named ‘The Ormax OTT Audience Sizing Report 2022’, India has more than 423 Mn OTT users.

The report added that India has 119 Mn active paid OTT subscribers at present, with 49 Mn SVOD (Subscription Video On Demand) subscribers.

However, India’s OTT segment is hugely competitive with the presence of international giants such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ and local players like Tata Play, KukuFM, Pocket FM and others.