Microsoft-backed Dailyhunt expands into Middle East

VerSe Innovation, an India-based tech unicorn, has rolled out news aggregator Dailyhunt in the Middle East, including in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait.

VerSe Innovation co-founders Umang Bedi (left) and Virendra Gupta / Photo credit: Dailyhunt

Media veteran Shekhar Iyer has been appointed director and general manager of VerSe Innovation for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). He will spearhead the company’s expansion into the Middle East. The content platform has also set up its headquarters in Dubai.

The Microsoft-backed firm has so far partnered with over 5,000 content partners who will cater to the UAE market. the firm will further expand its content offering by partnering with key local publishers, including MENA Newswire, Al Khaleej, The Brew, Chalk Media, Brandknew, KKompany, Mudgal Kreations, Buzzing, and Gulf Today, among others.

VerSe plans to deepen its presence in the region by rolling out its platform to more MENA countries, including Iraq, Iran, Israel, and Egypt. It aims to support languages like Hebrew, Farsi, and Arabic. Currently, Dailyhunt offers content in more than 15 Indian languages from more than 100,000 content partners and individual content creators.

The tech firm’s monthly active users (MAUs) have grown nearly 8x in the last three years to four years to over 350 million users, VerSe Innovation co-founder Umang Bedi told Tech in Asia.

The average time a user spends per day on the platform has grown from 23 minutes to more than 30 minutes in the same period. Dailyhunt’s annual recurring revenue (ARR) has grown nearly 12.5x to US$200 million in the last four years, Bedi added.

The co-founder disclosed that the company was losing money three years to four years ago, but that the tides were changing. Dailyhunt turned EBITDA positive for the quarter ending June 2022, Bedi said.

Funding winter is real

VerSe’s global expansion comes at a time when startups are looking to sail through a so-called “funding winter,” which has led to a slump in the valuations of startups that don’t have a clear path to profitability.

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While Bedi ruled out layoffs at VerSe, he said that the company was focusing on reducing cash burn and building a business that could go public in the next couple of years.

“The froth will get cleared from the system. There will be a few great companies that will adapt, do the right things, and demonstrate positive unit economics. There will be a few casualties along the way, and there will be a few that will emerge a lot stronger,” he said.

VerSe Innovation, which also operates the short-video networking platform Josh, raised US$805 million in funding in April this year. The round saw the company’s valuation rise to nearly US$5 billion.