[Funding alert] Vernacular digital media startup Homescreen Network raises $2M in Series A from SAAMA Capital

Bengaluru-based Homescreen Network (HSN), a vernacular digital media venture, on Monday announced that it has raised $2 million in Series A funding from SAAMA Capital.

HSN, which is promoted by venture-building platform GrowthStory, said in an official statement that it plans to use the funding to build a Professional Generated Content (PGC) platform to cater to India’s rapidly growing vernacular audience.

Speaking on the investment, Homescreen Network’s Co-founders Soum Paul (CEO) and TV Mahalingam (Editor), said,

“We aim to use the funds to strengthen our content delivery platform and introduce more new languages in the coming year.”

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Using deep analytics and technology, HSN generates custom-made content to relevant regional audiences across India through its platforms SparkTV (for regional audiences) & TheBigScope. Their content is currently available in five languages (Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Kannada & English), and distributed through partner platforms like JioNews, DailyHunt, Sharechat, SonyLIV, and its own app – SparkTV.

Founded in early 2018, HSN recorded over 17 million video views across various platforms in the month of April and its app has received over 500K downloads in two months on Playstore. The startup makes videos across music, food, travel, entertainment, beauty, health, lifestyle, news, astrology, mythology, technology, etc.

Recently, Mumbai-based original video content startup The Viral Fever (TVF), received $5 million (Rs 34.6 crore) in funding from Tiger Global Management, through its Internet Fund III, according to RoC filings accessed by YourStory.

Hyderabad-based vernacular hyperlocal news platform, PublicVibe (formerly NewsDistill), also secured a seed round of funding led by IAN investors Bikky Khosla (Board of Director) and Prashant Pahade (lead investor) this month.

Also Read: How a Chinese entrepreneur built her startup in vernacular India, raised $50M from Tencent, etc.

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