Print & web media company Swarajya raises funds for next phase of growth

New Delhi : Print and web media company Swarajya on Tuesday announced a new funding round in its sponsor company Kovai Media Pvt. Ltd.

The new round provides additional capital worth Rs 3.6 crore to supplement internal accruals for funding the next phase of rapid expansion and growth for the omni-channel platform, which achieved profitability in FY 2020-2021.

The current round was oversubscribed by existing investors, including Venture Finance & Development Corporation (Hari Kiran Vadlamani), Meridian Investments (Mohandas Pai), and was led by Yuj Bharat Holdings, an affiliate of Yuj Ventures (which represents the interests of Siddharth Yog), who now become the sponsor company’s largest shareholder group with 38 per cent ownership.

"The company plans to use the new infusion to significantly expand its editorial desk and add reporters and staff writers across key gateway cities across Bharat. Part of the funds will also be used to upgrade our technology stack including revamped apps, web properties and implementation of modern customer data platforms," said Amarnath Govindarajan, the company’s Chief Executive Officer and Publisher.

"These strategic investments will be focused on significantly increasing the publication’s coverage, direct reporting and editorial presence, and also widen and deepen our subscriber base," he added.

Swarajya was originally set up in 1956 as a weekly, under the patronage of the first Bharat Ratna, Dr C. Rajagopalachari, a freedom fighter and India’s first head of state of Indian origin (as Governor-General from 1948 to 1950). The magazine ceased operations in or around the time of emergency (1977-1980).

In early 2014, a group of entrepreneurs acquired the brand and the archives and relaunched the magazine. Swarajya has grown steadily and now reaches a target audience of 1 million unique visitors a month. It was also among the earliest new-age digital media platforms to pivot to a 'reader-pays' model which has over 20,000 subscribers.

"We first backed Swarajya back in 2014, as supporters of an independent, economically conservative but liberal voice in the Indian media, when it was not fashionable to do so," added Siddharth Yog.