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Total amount raised
$1.49 Billion
Latest funding date
2024-02-01
Location
VerSe Innovation, Dailyhunt's parent, has raised at least USD 1.49 billion across seven rounds. The latest is a February 2024 venture debt round of INR 50 crore (about USD 6.25 million) from Alteria Capital. Its latest equity round was CPP Investments' USD 805 million Series J in April 2022. Dailyhunt is a mobile news app delivering updates in 14 Indian languages.
What Is Dailyhunt?
Dailyhunt is a mobile news and content app delivering personalized updates in 14 Indian languages, operated by VerSe Innovation, a private company based in Bengaluru, India.
VerSe acquired Magzter, now Dailyhunt Premium, in April 2024 and Valueleaf in August 2024. Headcount is not disclosed after a 2025 restructuring.
How Much Funding Has Dailyhunt Raised?
- Series D
- Amount Raised: USD 25,000,000
- Date: October 2016
- Lead Investors: ByteDance
- Motivation Behind the Round: To address the need for local-language content in India using ByteDance's personalization expertise.
- Series H
- Amount Raised: Over USD 100,000,000
- Date: December 2020
- Lead Investors: Google, Microsoft, AlphaWave
- Valuation: Above USD 1 billion
- Motivation Behind the Round: Not publicly disclosed.
- Series H (Second Tranche)
- Amount Raised: Over USD 100,000,000
- Date: February 2021
- Lead Investors: Qatar Investment Authority, Glade Brook Capital Partners
- Valuation: Above USD 1 billion
- Motivation Behind the Round: Undisclosed.
- Series I
- Amount Raised: USD 450,000,000
- Date: August 2021
- Lead Investors: Siguler Guff, Baillie Gifford, and affiliates of Carlyle Asia Partners Growth II
- Participants: Sofina Group, Qatar Investment Authority, B Capital
- Valuation: Nearing USD 3 billion, as reported by TechCrunch
- Motivation Behind the Round: International expansion of the Dailyhunt and Josh apps and investment in AI and machine learning.
- Venture Round (Series Unknown)
- Amount Raised: Not publicly disclosed
- Date: February 2022
- Lead Investors: Trifecta Capital Advisors
- Motivation Behind the Round: To support Dailyhunt's growth and expansion.
- Series J
- Amount Raised: USD 805,000,000
- Date: April 2022
- Lead Investors: CPP Investments (Canada Pension Plan Investment Board)
- Participants: Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board, Luxor Capital, Sumeru Ventures, Sofina Group, Baillie Gifford
- Valuation: USD 5 billion post-money
- Motivation Behind the Round: Expand AI and machine learning capabilities, develop new apps, and extend the company's runway.
- Venture Debt
- Amount Raised: USD 6,250,000 (INR 50 crore)
- Date: February 2024
- Lead Investors: Alteria Capital
- Motivation Behind the Round: Not publicly disclosed.
Total Amount Raised: At least USD 1,486,250,000 across the seven rounds, counting each Series H tranche at USD 100,000,000 and excluding the undisclosed February 2022 round. Inc42 puts VerSe's cumulative funding at over INR 14,195 crore (about USD 1.7 billion); TechCrunch estimated roughly USD 2 billion including secondary transactions as of April 2022. Current Valuation: USD 5 billion post-money at the April 2022 Series J. Inc42 reported it marked down about 41% to USD 2.9 billion by August 2024, though the company still cites USD 5 billion. As of September 2026, the company's latest disclosed round remains its February 2024 venture debt round.
Key Investors
- Alteria Capital
- Details: Alteria Capital, an India venture debt fund, backed VerSe's INR 50 crore round in February 2024.
- Investment Focus Areas: Indian startup venture debt.
- Notable Investments: Rebel Foods, Lendingkart.
- CPP Investments
- Details: CPP Investments, which manages the Canada Pension Plan, led the USD 805 million Series J in April 2022.
- Investment Focus Areas: Global equity and credit.
- Notable Investments: Byju's, Zomato, Delhivery.
- Baillie Gifford
- Details: Baillie Gifford co-led the August 2021 Series I and joined the April 2022 Series J.
- Investment Focus Areas: Long-term growth equity.
- Notable Investments: Tesla, SpaceX, Shopify.
- Carlyle
- Details: Affiliates of Carlyle Asia Partners Growth II co-led the August 2021 Series I alongside Siguler Guff.
- Investment Focus Areas: Asia private equity.
- Notable Investments: Delhivery, SBI Cards, Piramal Pharma.
- Google
- Details: Google co-led the December 2020 Series H that first valued VerSe above USD 1 billion.
- Investment Focus Areas: Digital platforms.
- Notable Investments: Jio Platforms, Flipkart, Dunzo.
- ByteDance
- Details: ByteDance led the USD 25 million Series D in October 2016.
- Investment Focus Areas: Content, machine learning.
- Notable Investments: Not publicly disclosed.
- Qatar Investment Authority
- Details: Qatar Investment Authority co-led the February 2021 Series H tranche.
- Investment Focus Areas: Sovereign wealth investing.
- Notable Investments: Swiggy, Byju's, Reliance Retail Ventures.
What's Next for Dailyhunt?
VerSe is focused on reaching profitability instead of raising new equity. Entrackr reported in September 2025 that FY25 operating revenue rose 88% to INR 1,930 crore while EBITDA burn fell 20%. Management is targeting group profitability in the second half of FY26.
VerSe has cut costs alongside this push. In May 2025 it reduced headcount, with Entrepreneur India reporting about 350 roles cut and Inc42 later reporting about 500. Former Deloitte India chairman P.R. Ramesh joined the board in March 2026, and Prasanna Prasad became Chief Product and Technology Officer in April 2026. No new fundraise has appeared since the February 2024 Alteria Capital venture debt.
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