Info Edge India backs Rusk Media with three other investors

Homegrown consumer internet conglomerate Info Edge India has invested Rs 3.5 crore (about $462,000 as per current exchange rates) in a seed funding round in Rusk Media through Info Edge Venture Fund (IEVF) I, as per regulatory filings.

Sprout Venture Partners; Survam Partners, the family office of Suman Kant Munjal; and an undisclosed institutional investor also participated in the round, the company said in a statement, without disclosing the investment amount.

IEVF I will receive 2,779 -0.01% seed series compulsorily convertible preference shares, at a face value of Rs 10 each, the company said in a BSE filing. After the investment, the aggregate shareholding of IEVF I in Rusk Media would be 10% on a fully converted and diluted basis, it said.

The New Delhi-based media organisation said it looks to deploy the fresh capital to build distinctive digital entertainment solutions by bolstering video production and custom content capabilities. It also aims to surpass a billion monthly views by the year-end and subsequently reach one in three digital video viewers by 2021, it added.

Rusk Media last raised an undisclosed amount of capital in an angel funding round last year.

Founded in May 2019, the company owns four content brands Alright, Hattke, Recharge and LIT. It produces content across genres such as fiction, music, lifestyle and technology, and distributes it across multiple platforms, brands and fields. It is also engaged in monetisation of content through brand sponsorship in lieu of product placement or product integration, which helps brands achieve better reach, and creates original content for over-the-top (OTT) platforms.

Noida headquartered Info Edge India, which runs online businesses such as jobs classifieds portal Naukri.com, earlier this month announced its plans to raise $50 million from limited partners outside the group. This is half of the total corpus of $100 million that the firm looks to raise for its venture capital fund over the next three years.  

Launched earlier this year, IEVF has already invested close to $20 million (Rs 150 crore) in companies such as customer engagement platform for merchants DotePe ($1.4 million), AR Rahman-backed music platform Qyuki Digital Media ($3.3 million), Intellihealth Solutions-owned e-pharmacy Truemeds ($490,000) and sports startup Fanbuff Esports ($460,000).