VerSe Innovation, the parent company of news aggregator app Dailyhunt and short video app Josh, announced on Wednesday that it had raised $805 million when many startups are having difficulty raising financing.
According to co-founders, the startup has established one of the largest adtech businesses in the country and is now driving commerce through apps and is valued at roughly $5 billion in the new round, up from around $3 billion just eight months ago.
The round was headed by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), its largest investment in the region to date. The financing included current backers Sofina Group and Baillie Gifford, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers’), Luxor Capital, and Sumeru Ventures.
VerSe Innovation’s total raise to date is around $2 billion, making it the largest in the Indian startup sector this year (topping Byju’s $800 million) (some through secondary transactions). The business claims it raised funds after getting a slew of inbound proposals and that the fresh funds, together with existing reserves, will provide it runway for “many years.”
