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India Insights from Times Bridge: February 2024
Dear Reader,
We hope you've been doing well.
With 2024 underway, we are delighted to share some of the latest highlights from the Times Bridge portfolio, The Times of India Group, and the country’s ever-evolving tech ecosystem.
Happy reading!
TIMES BRIDGE INSIGHTS
Congratulations to Uber on completing a decade of growth and leadership in India's gig economy!
While India became the first nation to land a lunar mission near the Moon’s south pole last year, Uber's drivers in India have covered the distance from the Earth to the Moon 86,000 times since the company started its India operations 10 years ago.
In collaboration with Dezan Shira Associates, a leading international advisory firm, we published “India’s Economic Rise: How Global Tech Giants are Chasing the Next Big Growth Engine” — an article that drills down on India’s attractions for global companies as it prepares to become the world’s second-largest economy by 2075. Click here to read the article.
In our latest edition of India Immersion Stories, we dove into our work helping Smule, the world’s leading karaoke app, when it launched India’s first digital-only singing reality show.
Read more to learn how ‘1,2,3 Riyaaz’ helped Smule grow its engaged community of young singers, weave its way into local culture — and propel India into one of its top three markets globally.
PORTFOLIO HIGHLIGHTS
Our portfolio partner companies have had an impressive few months, generating outsized impact and growth in India and, in so doing, advancing their global position as well.
Our partner Coursera continues to localize its offerings for its second-largest global market. CEO Jeff Maggioncalda spoke about the company’s India plans last week at the ET Now Global Business Summit 2024 in New Delhi. Coursera is leveraging AI to offer over 4,000 courses in Hindi — in line with its mission to provide universal access to world-class learning.
MUBI recently held the South Asia premiere of Sofia Coppola’s widely-acclaimed film “Priscilla” at the prestigious Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. MUBI owns the exclusive India rights to the film, which will release across the country in partnership with PVR-INOX theaters — the latest example of MUBI bringing the world’s most-loved films to Indian cinephiles.
Separately, MUBI has been awarded Apple TV App of the Year at the 2023 App Store Awards.
UK-based nonprofit Girl Effect co-authored a cutting-edge report that investigates the key attitudes, trends and behaviors influencing youth's mobile access and usage across seven low- and middle-income countries. Their findings from India reveal gender-based discrepancies in mobile phone ownership, the narrative of internet safety, and other important areas. The report and its findings are particularly salient in India, which has an estimated 1.2 billion mobile phone users.
Adding to its slew of global accolades, Headspace was named the Best Meditation App by Wirecutter, the product recommendation service of the New York Times. Headspace continues to stand out with its world-class mindfulness content as it stays true to its mission of improving health and happiness around the globe.
TIMES OF INDIA GROUP HIGHLIGHTS
The Economic Times Startup Awards wrapped up late last year and brought together the country’s top entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders. Now in its ninth edition, the ET Startup Awards demonstrate ET’s longstanding commitment to not only inform but also actively engage business leaders and entrepreneurs in India and beyond.
The Economic Times continues to outpace the competition with over 40 million unique digital visitors each month. Over 60 years after its founding, the Economic Times remains India’s premier news platform in the business and finance genre.
INDIA INSIGHTS
In late 2023, credit card usage in India surpassed debit card usage for the first time, as reported by Bloomberg. The value of credit card transactions remains on the rise, demonstrating increasing average incomes and growing consumer awareness.
“Given the different profiles of India and China’s respective consumer classes, it is not a question of whether one will displace the other, but rather of the joint importance their markets will exert over the next decade,” writes the Brookings Institution. One-fifth of the world’s youth consumer market will be based in India by the end of this decade, presenting a compelling opportunity for the world’s top companies and brands.
India’s travel market continues to show promising growth, with travel spending expected to increase from $150 billion in 2019 to $410 billion by 2030. But what is driving the wanderlust? According to a report from Booking.com and McKinsey, Indian travelers mainly get their travel inspiration from social media platforms, TV shows, and Indian cinema — demonstrating the power of digital content in the world’s largest open Internet market.
Thanks for reading. Until next time!
