ScoopWhoop losses up 160% in FY16, but revenues jump fourfold

NEWDELHI: Losses at digital media startup ScoopWhoop soared 160% to ₹6.48 crore in 2015-16, against a year ago, even as revenues jumped four-fold to nearly ₹10 crore, according to a filing with the Registrar of Companies.

During the period, the company invested in scaling video production capabilities and hired across editorial and business-to-business marketing roles, in a bid to increase traffic and sign up more clients for branded content, said Sattvik Mishra, co-founder and chief executive officer of ScoopWhoop Media Pvt Ltd.

Total expenditure during the period was ₹16 crore, up from ₹5.2 crore in the previous fiscal.

Delhi-based ScoopWhoop operates three internet properties: entertainment and news portal ScoopWhoop.com, women-centric content website Vagabomb.com and Hindi-content publisher Gazabpost.com. The venture is backed by Kalaari Capital and Bharti SoftBank, a joint venture between telecom giant Bharti Enterprises and Japan’s Softbank Corp.

The company generates revenue from display ads and native advertising.

The rise in revenues indicates higher corporate spending on digital advertising, a trend seen across digital media companies. The surge is led by video content, more of which is now produced than ever before, which helps publishers cut bigger brand deals.

“What we have seen is that audiences consume video content more. So it makes sense to engage in the format they like, and video is the clear winner. What we have seen is that brands also want to invest in video content and you are able to tell a better story in the video format compared to text,” said Mishra.