Matrix Partners India invests in Shotformats digital entertainment platform 'Biscoot'
Mumbai, India '“ October 31, 2013: Matrix Partners India today announced that it has invested as the sole investor in the first institutional round of funding for Shotformats Digital Works, a digital entertainment and distribution company that offers a mobile and internet bouquet of direct to consumer products under the flagship '˜Biscoot' brand.
Niyati Shah, founder and CEO, has been a senior executive at leading digital companies such as Yahoo India, Sify and Zee Telefilms, where she was instrumental in launching several of the most successful entertainment brands in India. She has ~15 years of experience in entertainment, including music labels, satellite channels, content production and digital entertainment. Her co-founder Rachna Puri is a veteran in the sales and distribution space, and is instrumental in establishing the mobility business at Shotformats.
"Our vision is to build the largest digital distribution network platform in India. We serve movies, music, games and apps under the Biscoot brand name to the mobile consumer through both online and offline channels across regions and languages. By the end of this year, we will be present across 10,000 retailers and are targeting ~1M monthly users with our online products. Entertainment on mobile has mass appeal and our aim is to serve both urban as well as rural consumers, and build an eco-system for content owners to monetize content. We decided to work with Matrix Partners India because of their deep experience in building high-growth companies and their understanding of the mobile space in India.' said Niyati Shah, co-founder and CEO, Shotformats Digital Works Pvt. Ltd.
"Mobile-first products and services are an important franchise area for Matrix Partners India. We want to work with entrepreneurs who are creating mobile-first companies by using disruptive business models. We believe that the majority of Indian consumers today are starved for personal entertainment on their mobiles and are willing to pay affordable prices for high-quality content. We share Niyati and Rachna's vision of building both online and offline channels to serve the mass entertainment consumer. Niyati and Rachna have a rare combination of deep media relationships and digital sector expertise to make this vision a reality. We are excited to partner with them on this journey.' said Vikram Vaidyanathan, Director, Matrix India.
About Shotformats Digital Works Pvt. Ltd.:
Shotformats Digital Works is a Singapore-headquartered digital distribution and new media company that develops innovative digital platforms, products, and content to reach audiences via varied online and offline distribution streams. The company is a leader in the mobile entertainment space, having created and deployed solutions while working with leading media houses, telcos, and app developers, amongst others. It also has a diverse portfolio of products under its flagship direct-to-consumer Biscoot brand, including movies (Biscoot Talkies), music (Biscoot Bajao), infotainment (Biscoot B-Now), apps (Biscoot App Bazaar), and pre-paid payment mechanism (Biscoot Batua).
About Matrix Partners India:
Matrix Partners India is an investment firm with INR 3,000 crore under management. The firm invests in companies targeting the Indian consumer market at the seed, early and early growth stages. The firm has invested in several market leading companies including Verse/Newshunt(mobile publishing), U2opia (social mobile apps), Twist Mobile (mobile games), Mswipe (mobile POS), Quikr (online classifieds), Stayzilla (online hotel reservations), Centre for Sight (eye care chain), Cloudnine (maternity and infant care chain), Muthoot Finance (gold loan NBFC) and TreeHouse Education (preschools) among others. Matrix Partners has a global network of funds investing in the US, China and India with US $3 billion under management. Further information is available at www.matrixpartners.in
