HT Media and US-based investment firm North Base Media today announced a joint venture to promote entrepreneurship in new-generation digital media.
The 50:50 JV - mediahack.In - will initially invite ideas from potential entrepreneurs, with seven of them to be selected for support and funding this summer. It will focus on those who want to build original content and advertising-related technology business in India.
"We will provide the entrepreneurs a platform through this. After selecting ideas, North Base Media, which has a global expertise in this field, would guide the media entrepreneurs," HT Media CEO Rajiv Verma said.
The entrepreneurs will be funded between USD 50,000 to USD 1,00,000, depending on their ideas under this programme, but if need be, they could be provided more, he added.
"If there is a powerful idea, we would not mind to exceed as capital is not a constraint. It's about making sure the idea does not get over-capitalised when it fails," Verma said.
On the potential of the Indian media market, North Base Media Co-Founder and Managing Partner Marcus Brauchli said: "Mobile and social platforms are transforming the way billions of people consume news around the world. Nowhere is that more evident than in India, where more than 500 million people will have access to the Internet, many for the first time, the next few years."
Brauchli, former editor of The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, added: "We want to help the next generation of entrepreneurs create platforms, products and technologies that will bring news and information to those new audiences."
Verma said the funding will be strictly for the media sector and "we would help those who have bubbling ideas, but lack resources".
Mediahack.In could pick up a minority stake between 10-30 per cent in the ventures it supports, he added.
HT Media publishes three dailies - Hindustan Times, Hindustan and Mint. That apart, it has presence in radio, education and digital space.
North Base Media has identified growth-stage investments in companies that can become media leaders in emerging markets.
