Betting on Bharat: Pratilipi takes uncharted path in battle for mind space

Pratilipi, self-publishing platform in Indian languages, has few competitors so far but it may not be for long

Nearly two years ago, Ranjeet Pratap Singh, founder and CEO of self-publishing platform Pratilipi, was handed a report. It was a Google Analytics snapshot, which gave him an overview of the platform’s user base. It revealed over 50 per cent of the user base were women in the age bracket of 18-30 and they lived primarily in metros. Everything in this report was unexpected. 

To understand why it was unusual, let’s explain what Pratilipi does. 

Pratilipi deals primarily in Indian languages — nothing is in English. The company encourages both well-known and less-known writers to upload their e-books on Pratilipi. It then