VerSe Innovation
Funding History
| Series H · 12/2020 | $1.0B |
|---|---|
| Series I · 08/2021 | $3.0B |
| Series J · 04/2022 | $5.0B |
About
VerSe Innovation is an Indian content-technology company headquartered in Bengaluru, founded in 2007 and best known as the parent of Dailyhunt (local-language news and content) and Josh (short-video).
- CEO
- Umang Bedi
- Headquarters
- Bengaluru, India
- Founded
- 2007
- Website
- verse.in
Overview
VerSe Innovation, founded in 2007 by Virendra Gupta and Shailendra Sharma, operates Dailyhunt (a local-language news and content aggregator reporting hundreds of millions of monthly users across 14 Indian languages) and Josh (a short-video platform). The company has also acquired adjacent businesses, including digital newsstand app Magzter (April 2024) and a majority stake in ad-tech and data provider Valueleaf Group (August 2024).
VerSe's cap table includes Google, Microsoft, Qatar Investment Authority, Sofina Group, Carlyle Group, Baillie Gifford, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, among others, built up across a series of rounds between December 2020 and April 2022 that took the company from unicorn status to a reported $5 billion valuation.
Since 2023-2024, VerSe has faced a sharp decline in Josh's user engagement and at least one investor's public valuation markdown, prompting layoffs, a strategic pivot to AI products (including a platform called NexVerse.ai), and a reported 88% jump in FY25 operating revenue alongside reduced cash burn.
In 2025-2026 the company has been visibly staffing for a potential public listing: appointing a Group CFO explicitly tasked with IPO readiness in October 2025, and adding a former Deloitte India chairman as an independent director in March 2026. As of September 2026, no IPO date, exchange or filing has been confirmed.
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