[Startup Bharat] This Udaipur firm by IIT-Kharagpur grad helps companies connect with video creators from across the world

VidSaga Founder Nikhilesh Tayal knew that filmmakers need access to work opportunities to monetise their talent and fund their creative projects, while organisations are always in search of good creators to churn out videos for them. Keeping this in mind, the IIT Kharagpur graduate sought to combine technology, entrepreneurship, and video creation to bring out a platform.

But, back then, he did not know how exactly to go about it.

So Nikhilesh’s entrepreneurial efforts first started out as a blog to feature prominent filmmakers, and then was converted into a marketplace, called Stagephod.com, in 2015.

Finding the sweet spot

“We ran this marketplace for about three years and realised that this is a global opportunity and needs a more specific approach. We then revisited the problem in 2018, and revamped it into VidSaga, a global marketplace with more technical features and tools,” the 36-year-old explains.

The startup now helps organisations across the globe to create videos easily, quickly, and at the right price by connecting them with the right video creators, animators, and editors, and also empowering them with decision-making and video-specific project management tools. This also helps content creators across the world to gain access to global work opportunities.

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VidSaga targets startups, SMBs, NGOs, real-estate companies, educational institutes, jewellers, digital agencies, corporates as well as production houses, animators, and editors.

According to Nikhilesh, the startup today has video creators registered from countries like Columbia, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, and sees video requirements from the US, the UAE, Singapore, and Afghanistan.

Accessing content creators made easy

So how does the VidSaga platform work? The startup allows an organisation to first figure out the estimated price of their video requirement using its ‘Video Price Calculator’ available on VidSaga website. The VidSaga domain expert then helps the company finalise the project scope based on its business requirement. Once the requirement is published, multiple video creators bid on the project.

The company with the video requirement can then compare video creator profiles and select the right one using an online comparison tool, or with the help of VidSaga’s experts. Once selected, organisations can then use a video-specific project management tool to drive efficiency. The product management tool helps in doing collaborative work and collecting feedback on the project on the platform itself without having to download the videos.

Nikhilesh says that VidSaga is a one-stop solution platform for all the video-related challenges.

“Our intention is to create a platform where we can help organisations with price transparency, online tools, and domain expert help in an easy process so that video creation becomes simple for companies,” adds Nikhilesh.

At present, VidSaga is a team of six people, including the founder. The startup has posted over 1,200 global video projects on the website so far, and has completed over 115 bids.

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Of advantages and challenges

VidSaga’s clientele include Cisco, Hindustan Times, Shell, VIP Bags, MySmartPrice, etc. The company is associated with around 250 video creators globally.

Based in Udaipur, Nikhilesh was able to tap into some advantages. “Udaipur being my hometown, it is operationally cost-effective. We can work remotely as well,” he explains.

But the young startup also had to face several challenges dotting its path. “Our main challenge for this business was to bring regular video requirements on the website. We needed to crack this problem quickly and cost effectively to create value for our video creators,” Nikhilesh explains.

Initially, to spread the word about the startup, VidSaga created multiple listings on its platform curating information about various video creators and companies. This helped garner interest from other video creators and companies, and the startup eventually on-boarded the first clients as well as content creators.

Revenue and future

According to IBEF, India’s digital video and advertisement market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 33.5 percent to reach $3.8 billion by 2020. Competitors for VidSaga include Fiverr, Upwork, 90seconds.com, and Animato. But Nikhilesh says these platforms either focus only on the discovery of video creators, are expensive, or help only large enterprises with online tools.

Bootstrapped VidSaga earns revenue through the following channels:

1. From video creators - subscription plans for lead buying. The video creators needs to purchase credits to bid on any project.

2. From organisations - commission for closed projects from its clients.

3. Online video tools - premium subscription. The basic version is free, but the premium subscription provides access to online tools such as the project management tool.

4. Website ads are placed by film festivals, stock footage websites, casting agencies, location, equipment providers etc.

Nikhilesh says the startup earns revenue of around Rs 2 lakh per month.

As of now, VidSaga is focusing on creating value and solving problems for both organisations and video creators. In the near future, it plans to bring in requirements from countries like the US, Australia, Singapore, and the UAE, and increase the video creator network to countries like Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Japan, etc. The team is also creating educational content for video creators.

(Edited by Evelyn Ratnakumar)

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