Roar earns top digital content spot in Bangladesh, sets it sights on India
Sri Lanka-based digital content platform Roar has taken the top spot in its sector in Bangladesh, having become the No. 1 New Media platform in that country.
In India, despite it being a virtually untapped market for the platform, Roar has already shown encouraging growth. And considering India’s current overall internet penetration is just 33 per cent, and that it is the second largest online market in the world, with digital ad spends of $2 billion for 2018, there is immense potential for growth for Roar, with it set to become one of the top digital content players in India within 2018.
Roar has additionally become a dominant player in Sri Lanka, addressing topics from tech to travel to social issues in Sinhalese, Tamil and English.
Helping its various initiatives along is the recent completion of Roar’s Pre Series A round of venture capital funding, which was led by the Digital Innovation Fund, powered by Dialog Axiata, and managed by BOV Capital.
“The Digital Innovation Fund is pleased to support fast growing digital content provider Roar in its South Asian expansion. Following Dialog Axiata’s initial investment in the Fund, we are looking to finance and mentor high growth potential digital startups with a particular focus on new technologies like Fin Tech, Health Tech, e-commerce, Edutainment, IoT and Media/Ad Tech. In addition, we also continue to welcome interest from potential investors for this very important Fund, which will empower the Sri Lankan startup ecosystem to continue to grow and thrive”, commented BOV Capital Co-Founder Prajeeth Balasubramaniam.
With plans to become the premier digital content organisation in South Asia, Roar has utilized good infotainment-led content in regional languages to dominate across markets. At the same time, Roar expects the majority of its growth to come from localized language content, with a particular focus on video. Besides the groups already served, Roar has plans to target many more language speakers in India who typically do not have access to good quality content.
Today, by publishing digital content across eight different websites, Roar receives over 35 million monthly video views, with a 20% month-on-month growth rate, along with more than six million website visitors, which increases 15% month-on-month.
Commenting on Roar’s recent string of successes, its CEO Mustafa Kassim said, “We have grown immensely across the South Asian continent over the last 24 months, and now, with backing from Dialog Axiata and BOV Capital, we can accelerate this growth even further. We can leverage these networks across South Asia to help us reach many more users and drive sales to the next level.”
About the Digital Innovation Fund
The Digital Innovation Fund, powered by Dialog Axiata, and managed by BOV Capital, is looking to attract sector-agnostic digital startups that disrupt or transform industries, or create new sectors, in fields such as Big Data, AI, etc. Proposals for funding, including a business plan or investor deck, can be submitted via the Digital Innovation Fund’s website at www.dif.lk.
About Roar
Roar (www.roar.media), is a South Asian new media platform that creates high quality content in five languages, namely English, Sinhala, Tamil, Hindi and Bangla and is gaining online traction for its eight different sites drawing over three million unique readers and over 34 million video views each month. Ranked amongst the top 50 websites for Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the site contributes more than 500 articles per month covering current affairs, business, lifestyle, technology, arts, and culture.
About BOV Capital
BOV Capital is a Venture Capital Firm based in Sri Lanka and Singapore. Established to help startups capture regional and global opportunities, the Firm will invest and work closely with early stage ventures with each investment ranging from Rs 15 million to Rs 200 million and help with all aspects of the business.
Mainly interested in tech-based ventures that focus on innovative technology with rapid growth potential, BOV Capital has become known for investing in exciting companies that develop B2B and B2C software for international markets. To date, BOV Capital has provided Rs.2 Billion in funding 25 startups. Visit www.bovcapital.com for more information.
The founders of BOV Capital have also been instrumental in sparking and nurturing the startup ecosystem in Sri Lanka. This has been achieved by creating awareness through the Venture Engine program, creating a large investor/ mentor network, helping entrepreneurs build capability, providing seed and follow on funding and helping companies to accelerate their growth. The principals of BOV Capital are also founder members of the Lankan Angel Network, which is the first angel network focused on high-growth, early-stage Sri Lankan ventures.
