Bengaluru-based The Ken, a subscription-driven online news platform has raised ₹10 crores ($1.5 million) in series A funding led by Omidyar Network. Other participants in this round included Yuk Kutumb, the Family Foundation headed by Sid Yog, the Founder and Managing Partner of The Xander Group Inc., among some existing and new angel investors.
Fresh funds will be used to expand the team of seasoned writers, developers, designers, editors, and marketers, along with accelerating growth.
The Ken was founded by Seema Singh, Ashish K Mishra and Sumanth Raghavendra, and Rohin Dharmakumar in 2016. The Ken creates original, well narrated, analytical stories from different fields like technology, healthcare, science using an India-specific lens.
Talking about the investment and future plans, Rohin Dharmakumar, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, The Ken, said, “Instead of continuing to play it slow and steady, we see the possibility to grow faster while continuing to keep long-term sustainability in mind,”.
The Ken started with a team of four when it was founded but it has now expanded to a team of 18 talented and hardworking members across three cities. It is expected to expand to a team of about two dozens by next month. The Ken also claims to have published 450 original and deeply reported stories.
Country’s media and entertainment industry are expected to reach $45.1 billion by 2021, growing at a CAGR of over 10.5%. This opens a window of opportunity for the budding startups in the media and journalism domain.
The subscription-based model has been gaining traction in the global industry with leading newspaper New York Times, testing the model on a global audience. This model is being tested in the Indian market by leaders like Times Of India and Business Standard. There seems to be an opportunity for growth in this domain and other media and journalism channels are trying to take advantage of the opportunity.
In the digital space, The Ken is competing with other media startups focussed on India specific content like TheIndianWire, YourStory, Inc42, VCCircle, TechStory, among many others.