Interactive video platform Toch raises pre-Series-A round

Vogueme Technologies Pvt Ltd, which operates the interactive video platform Toch, has raised an undisclosed amount in pre-Series-A round led by Hyderabad Angels, Mumbai Angels and high net worth individuals. 

The platform provides monetisation tools for over the top (OTT) video players using artificial intelligence and deep learning technology for meta tagging objects, people, emotions, locations, scenes and activity in real time.

“We have automated the decade old meta-tagging opportunity and look to keep growing our revenues by 4x this year,”said Vinayak Shrivastav, CEO of Toch. “Toch currently enables meta-tagging for live sporting events, live shows and library-based content for streaming platforms, and is venturing into broadcasting meta-tagging simultaneously.” 

Founded in 2017 by Shrivastav, Alok Patil and Saket Dandotia, the Mumbai-based  company makes videos on YouTube and Baidu shoppable, enabling e-commerce sites and partners tag their products in the videos. It also works with video ads and tech start-ups for content analysis and dashboard monetisation.

The company will use the fresh capital for enhancing technology and scaling operations.

“With Live commerce becoming the centre in the country after China, Toch has positioned itself as a platform to enable the new-age live discovery solution for users,” said Rathnakar Samavedam, portfolio manager with Hyderabad Angels.

Other deals in the segment

The OTT space has seen investor interest and consolidation in equal measure over the last year, with monetisation being a key concern for the non-subscription based models.

June 2019: News and native language content platform DailyHunt acquired hyperlocal news, video and information platform LocalPlay.

February 2019: Video analytics platform Vidooly raised Rs 15.14 crore from Alibaba and existing investor Times Internet.

Chinese internet conglomerate Tencent and Alibaba-backed digital wallet app Paytm have been in talks to invest $100 million in Times Internet-owned MX Player, according to media reports.