VerSe Innovation, the India-based news aggregator owner backed by corporates ByteDance, Google and Microsoft, has raised more than $450m in series I funding, Inc42 reported today.
Baillie Gifford, B Capital Group, Qatar Investment Authority, Siguler Guff, Sofina and Carlyle Asia Partners Growth II also took part in the round, which boosted the company’s valuation to nearly $3bn, a source privy to the development told TechCrunch.
Founded in 2007, Verse runs Dailyhunt, the news platform formerly known as Newshunt, which curates bespoke news content in 14 local languages for more than 300 million monthly active users. It also has a short video app targeting young people, dubbed Josh.
The cash will go toward artificial intelligence and machine learning technology development, in a bid to create a more personalised service.
The company had collected in excess of $100m in a series H round in February this year co-led by Glade Brook Capital Partners and Qatar Investment Authority and backed by Canaan Valley Capital and Sofina.
Internet technology provider Google and diversified software supplier Microsoft had already taken part in another series H round in December 2020 also sized at $100m, investing alongside Falcon Edge subsidiary Alpha Wave Incubation, Lupa Systems and Sofina at a $1bn valuation.
Digital media group ByteDance had backed Verse’s $58.6m series G round seven months before at a $512m pre-money valuation. It also featured Advent International, Falcon Edge, Goldman Sachs and Lupa India.
Unnamed investors had provided $35m for the company in early 2019, a round that came in the wake of a $25m round three years earlier that included Bytedance, Arun Sarin and existing shareholders Matrix Partners India, Sequoia Capital India and Omidyar Network, taking its total funding to $65m.
