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Tag: Ritu Kapur

  • The Quint, founded by Raghav Bahl and Ritu Kapur, turns 4

    The Quint, founded by Raghav Bahl and Ritu Kapur, turns 4

    MUMBAI: The Quint, India’s leading mobile-first online news portal, completes four years of delivering bold and thought-provoking news, views and interactive content to its readers. With a variety of content across politics, entertainment, fitness & lifestyle, tech & auto and food & travel, The Quint has changed the way digital news is consumed in India.

    The Quint started off as a Facebook page publishing news in 2015 and since, has grown to approximately 16 million unique monthly visitors, nearly 69% of which comprises millennials, i.e. readers in the age group of 18 to 34 years (source: Google Analytics). The Quint caters to a massive WhatsApp subscriber base of 175K+ readers.

    The portal has redefined digital storytelling by popularising snackable content formats such as 360 degree videos, elections on mobile, podcasts and interactive stories. Through their social assets, The Quint reaches 100 million users every month. With deep expertise and forte in digital video, The Quint is the largest digital-only publisher on Facebook (Crowdtangle, February 2019 data).

    Ritu Kapur, founder and CEO, The Quint, says, “I have no doubt that it is our innovative, energetic, young team that gives The Quint its edge, making us the fastest growing digital only offering in the country. Our vision is to be the next-gen news leader.”

    Since its inception, The Quint has gone beyond just being a news portal. They have introduced multiple content verticals in keeping with what the audience wants. Quint Hindi has successfully managed to tap into the ever-growing Hindi speaking audience base. Quint Neon manages to get the pulse of millennials just right, and Quint FIT is the one-stop destination for health and fitness lovers. 

    To counter fake news, The Quint launched ‘WebQoof’, a fake news busting service. Their ongoing ‘Me, The Change’ campaign directly speaks to India’s first-time women voters and gives them a platform to put forth their aspirations.

    In just a span of four years, The Quint has indeed come a long way and created a unique space for itself in the digital news publishing space.

  • The Quint’s WebQoof gets signatory status for IFCN’s code of principles

    The Quint’s WebQoof gets signatory status for IFCN’s code of principles

    MUMBAI: ‘WebQoof’, the fact-checking arm of The Quint, was granted signatory status for the Poynter Institute's International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) code of principles, on Tuesday, 29 January 2019. This development signifies the considerable progress made in the fight against misinformation and fake news. Widely recognised as an authoritative body in the domain, fact-checkers all across the globe adhere to the “code of principles” provided by the IFCN, in order to promote transparent and unbiased fact-checking.

    Launched in May 2017, WebQoof utilises multiple sources, ranging from in-house technology to on-ground reportage, to verify and legitimise information.

    Speaking about the certification, The Quint founder and CEO Ritu Kapur said, “Disinformation is among the biggest malaise of our times, and The Quint is invested not just in debunking false news, but also in putting out verified facts before its readers.  Our readers have partnered with us in this initiative by sharing suspicious content with us for fact-checking. The IFCN accreditation underlines the credibility of The Quint’s fact-checking initiative – Webqoof – and will help us build further on this work.”

    The code of principles formulated by IFCN was drafted on the basis of collaborative discussions with fact-checkers from all around the world, and serves as a set of fundamental guidelines for all conscientious practitioners to follow. These entail a commitment to non-partisanship and fairness, transparency of sources, transparency of funding and organisation, transparency of mthodology, and an open and honest corrections policy.

  • Raghav Bahl’s The Quint completes a successful one year

    Raghav Bahl’s The Quint completes a successful one year

    MUMBAI: Tracing its inception back in March 2015, The Quint, a leading digital content platform has completed one year in India. The platform narrates stories through a smooth blend of video, audio, graphics and text.

    Offering an edgy take on the world, the platform serves as a destination to the mobile-savvy ‘on-the-go’ audience. The platform provides information on various topics ranging from politics, entertainment, sports, business, food, issues faced by women, LGBTQ, etc.

    Announced first on Facebook in the month of January, the website went live from March.

    “In this exciting one year, we have experimented with content, formats, technology and different ways of engaging our readers meaningfully. Throughout this ride, we’ve broken news (and parameters) as well as our own expectations, but most importantly, we’ve broken the perception that only print or television can rule information,” asserted the overwhelmed The Quint CEO Ritu Kapur.

    The Quint has championed several impactful campaigns in its first year on its platform that have helped it cinch its popularity with Indian content consumers like the ‘Buri ladki’ poster which gave away its first taste of going viral while attempting to break gender stereotypes in India.

    Even during the Bihar elections, the portal covered the entire poll with a selfie stick and a smart-phone.  

    During the Jat reservation riots in Haryana, National chess champion Anuradha Beniwal posted a plea on the website. The video, messages against the violence in Haryana went viral.

    Besides hard news, the website also paved its way into the hearts of its consumers by doing fun and fearless. #MakeOutInIndia, omne of their earliest campaigns encouraged Indians to talk about sex, breaking perceptions and cleaning out the cobwebs of hypocrisy. T

    On 26 February 206, they started a #LetterToIndia campaign inviting everyone to throw bouquets and brickbats on their way. Everyone from Bollywood stars, politicians, social influencers, prominent voices from the film industry, theatre, educational institutions, LGBTQ rights activists, provided colour and dimension to a campaign that eventually took on a life of its own on social. The platform even got onto the #SayYesToWeed bandwagon.

    A compelling combo of content, tech and distribution, the website is high-value digital journalism, storytelling, and advertising at scale. Recently, the website also launched Quint Hindi which giving Hindi news coverage catering to its Hindi speaking target group.

     

  • Raghav Bahl’s The Quint completes a successful one year

    Raghav Bahl’s The Quint completes a successful one year

    MUMBAI: Tracing its inception back in March 2015, The Quint, a leading digital content platform has completed one year in India. The platform narrates stories through a smooth blend of video, audio, graphics and text.

    Offering an edgy take on the world, the platform serves as a destination to the mobile-savvy ‘on-the-go’ audience. The platform provides information on various topics ranging from politics, entertainment, sports, business, food, issues faced by women, LGBTQ, etc.

    Announced first on Facebook in the month of January, the website went live from March.

    “In this exciting one year, we have experimented with content, formats, technology and different ways of engaging our readers meaningfully. Throughout this ride, we’ve broken news (and parameters) as well as our own expectations, but most importantly, we’ve broken the perception that only print or television can rule information,” asserted the overwhelmed The Quint CEO Ritu Kapur.

    The Quint has championed several impactful campaigns in its first year on its platform that have helped it cinch its popularity with Indian content consumers like the ‘Buri ladki’ poster which gave away its first taste of going viral while attempting to break gender stereotypes in India.

    Even during the Bihar elections, the portal covered the entire poll with a selfie stick and a smart-phone.  

    During the Jat reservation riots in Haryana, National chess champion Anuradha Beniwal posted a plea on the website. The video, messages against the violence in Haryana went viral.

    Besides hard news, the website also paved its way into the hearts of its consumers by doing fun and fearless. #MakeOutInIndia, omne of their earliest campaigns encouraged Indians to talk about sex, breaking perceptions and cleaning out the cobwebs of hypocrisy. T

    On 26 February 206, they started a #LetterToIndia campaign inviting everyone to throw bouquets and brickbats on their way. Everyone from Bollywood stars, politicians, social influencers, prominent voices from the film industry, theatre, educational institutions, LGBTQ rights activists, provided colour and dimension to a campaign that eventually took on a life of its own on social. The platform even got onto the #SayYesToWeed bandwagon.

    A compelling combo of content, tech and distribution, the website is high-value digital journalism, storytelling, and advertising at scale. Recently, the website also launched Quint Hindi which giving Hindi news coverage catering to its Hindi speaking target group.

     

  • The Quint forays into documentary making with film on UP

    The Quint forays into documentary making with film on UP

    MUMBAI: The Quint has forayed into the space of documentary film making with The Wild West of Uttar Pradesh – Rise of Radical Hindu Vigilante Groups.

     

    The main idea behind foraying into such a documentary is to unearth news that is underground.

     

    The Quint will travel to the interiors of western Uttar Pradesh to meet members of these groups, their sympathisers and young Hindu recruits who are being trained and indoctrinated in this emerging brand of religious extremism.

     

    Speaking about the proposition The Quint CEO Ritu Kapur said, “The QuintDocu will have a raw, gritty, provocative feel. It will be up-close, intimate, honest and un-filtered. Our documentaries will have energy, pace; we pack in a lot in a short time. We believe we are addressing an audience that is well-informed and knows how to ‘join the dots’. We will also publish related opinion pieces written by The Quint’s top-notch contributors; all this to give our audience a real 360 degree view of the subject.”

     

    The documentary will be produced in stand-alone two – four minute segments, which will be posted independently on The Quint. These documentaries are focused for an audience that accesses news and information mainly on the mobile phone. The Quint will also post raw interviews, key documents, maps, infographics, photo essays, detailed information about the protagonists and phenomenon and issues that are taken up in the documentaries. The Quint’s documentaries will also feature on the festival circuit. 

  • Da Vinci Learning and The Quint launch India’s 1st Kids HD Educational Channel

    Da Vinci Learning and The Quint launch India’s 1st Kids HD Educational Channel

    MUMBAI: With a vision of building its global footprint and further extending across 100+ territories spanning three continents, HD Educational channel Da Vinci Learning announced its formal launch in India. Its HD Educational channel will offer award-winning knowledge programming and documentaries to Indian audiences, with a special focus on curious young minds.  The channel aims to offer safe and quality entertainment for the entire family.

     

    Da Vinci Learning is entering India through a 50:50 joint venture between Da Vinci Media GmbH and Quintillion Media Pvt. Ltd. (The Quint).

     

    Da Vinci Media founder and CEO Ferdinand Habsburg said, “It is an exciting phase in the journey of Da Vinci Learning. India has always been a key priority market for us and the time has now come to showcase our differentiated programming, aimed at triggering creative young minds bubbling with talent and curiosity to do more. Our association with The Quint will help the channel to effectively increase and strengthen our foothold in the country by offering meaningful and creative content to the Indian audiences.” 

     

    The Quint co-Founder and Chairman Raghav Bahl said, “While Da Vinci Media brings expertise in knowledge-based programming content, this joint venture helps us to further expand, drive synergies and diversify our digital content portfolio.”

     

    The Quint co-Founder & CEO Ritu Kapur asserted, “The Quint will help consumers access Da Vinci Learning content through our digital distribution capabilities. I am confident that the differentiated content of Da Vinci Learning will bring about a transformation in the knowledge and education based content space in India; and I look forward to seeing this transformation take shape.”

     

    Da Vinci Learning, India Managing Director Mohit Anand added, “Arousing the curiosity of our viewers is our mission and we take pride in offering completely safe, non-violent, soft skills-based knowledge programming for the whole family. This has been our USP and we believe that there is a huge demand for such content in India as well. Our commitment is to find the best knowledge programming and make it available to Indian viewers because we understand the rush of inspiration, the thrill of discovery and the pleasure to know.”

     

    The company says that its channel’s programming covers a wide array of topics, ranging from physics and chemistry to history and nature, and makes complex subjects understandable in an entertaining way. Da Vinci Learning turns TV watching from passive observation into a meaningful experience, helping children develop various skills early on, encouraging older viewers to keep asking questions and inviting families to take their learning journeys together.

     

    Da Vinci Learning is targeted at the 6-12 year olds and their families; the channel aims at offering programming and content that makes astounding scientific ideas understandable, arouse curiosity, spark conversation and motivate viewers to continue uncovering the mysteries of the universe.

  • The Quint is Facebook’s Indian digital partner for instant articles

    The Quint is Facebook’s Indian digital partner for instant articles

    MUMBAI: Social media giant Facebook’s has partnered with The Quint in India to launch Instant Articles. Quint is Facebook’s only fully digital partner in the country

     

    Instant Articles loads videos and photos up to 10 times faster claims a release from The Quint. Auto-play videos come to life on scrolling through an article. High-resolution photos can be tilted to explore in detail, to see the location where the photo was clicked with interactive maps  and even hear the author’s voice with embedded audio captions.

     

    “We quickly saw that this was going to lift the user experience to an altogether different level. So when Facebook reached out, they had us at hello. We fast-tracked the implementation and had The Quint’s Instant Articles (test) out in a few weeks. We’re still fine tuning the experience, but we’re very happy with the results so far’’, shared The Quint CEO Ritu Kapur. 

     

    Facebook’s News and Global Media Partnerships director Andy Mitchell said, “We’re seeing great responses from readers who are enjoying the fast and interactive experience of Instant Articles and are excited to bring that to readers Quint in India. Since its launch in April this year, The Quint has grown really quickly on Facebook and given Quint’s focus on mobile-first journalism and publishing, it is a great fit for Instant Articles.” 

     

    Prior to this, Facebook had launched Instant Articles in the US with partners like New York Times, The Guardian, BBC, NBC and National Geographic.

  • Raghav Bahl’s Quintillion Media invests Rs 4 crore in Youth Ki Awaaz

    Raghav Bahl’s Quintillion Media invests Rs 4 crore in Youth Ki Awaaz

    MUMBAI: Raghav Bahl and Ritu Kapur led Quintillion Media, has invested Rs 4 crore in an angel round in Youth Ki Awaaz, a media platform for the youth to address some of the world’s most pressing issues – through thoughtful opinions and reportage.

     

    Kapur will join the board of the Youth Ki Awaaz parent – YKA Media Private Limited. BMR Advisors acted as transaction advisors to Quintillion Media and Novistra Capital acted as transaction advisors to Youth Ki Awaaz.

     

    Youth Ki Awaaz is a completely crowd-sourced digital media company, which aims to break the top-down, one-way approach of traditional media, making news creation and dissemination a collaborative/community led model. The platform’s approach to media is founded on the idea that public opinion is the new superpower, and that the media can do more to engage the current generation. From analysis and opinions on politics, to the latest on art and culture, Youth Ki Awaaz is a smorgasbord of personal stories, issue-centric writing and rights based interventions. The website receives over a million readers a month, and has contributions from over 30,000 writers from across India and the world.

     

    Youth Ki Awaaz founder Anshul Tewari said, “The last one year has seen a sudden rise in digital news and opinion platforms. With millions of dollars pouring into new startups, the growth is phenomenal. However, similar to traditional media, digital media too seems to be veering away from being people-focused. YKA on the other hand is a completely people driven digital media platform. With veterans like Raghav Bahl and Ritu Kapur on board as partners, we feel both privileged and excited to start a new and even more adventurous phase in pushing this generations opinions to the front. The capital will be invested in expanding our team, tech and business model.”

     

    The Quint co-founder Ritu Kapur added, “We were impressed by the idea conceived by Anshul and the team in creating Youth Ki Awaaz. In a short period of time, they have managed to carve a niche for themselves in the digital media space by creating a people driven digital media platform. We find their content to be high on both appeal as well as quality, which is a fine balance to strike. We are confident that they will continue to grow to greater heights in the coming future.”

  • Raghav Bahl’s new venture The Quint makes its debut

    Raghav Bahl’s new venture The Quint makes its debut

    MUMBAI: Months ago he introduced his digital baby The Quint on Facebook. Since January after publishing stories on the social media platform, Indian media mogul turned entrepreneur Raghav Bahl’s latest venture The Quint has finally made its online debut.

     

    After their stint with television, Bahl along with his wife Ritu Kapur, co-founded a digital company called Quintillion Media. The mobile focussed digital platform covers a wide array of news sections. These include politics, opinion, technology, world, entertainment, life, India, business and sports. A photo section dedicated to mostly Hollywood and Bollywood content, besides a video and podcast section is also a part of the new-born website. To lend a lighter tone to the content, a WaterQooler section features humourous and interesting anecdotes that are popular from around the world. The website is currently running in its BETA version.

     

    The content for the website is being created by the in-house content team of editorial writers as well as wire stories. A separate section on the website called “QuintEssential” has stories that are exclusive and personal posts that have been written by the founder duo, including the making of The Quint. Another section featuring on the home page, “Trending” includes stories and videos that are have been going viral in the cyber domain.

     

    The website is seeing a growing traction on its social media platforms. For example, its Twitter handle currently has more than 3,000 followers and more than 7,000 Facebook likes. Access to these two media is available above on the top right hand corner of the webpage.

     

    As reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, the company was registered on 23 August, 2014 with an authorised capital of Rs 130 crore. It invested in a start up venture known as Quintype, based in the San Francisco Bay Area with entrepreneur Amit Rathore as CEO and chief product officer. The website has been powered by Quintype offers cloud based solutions for editorial assignments as well publishing formats for mobile phones, tablets, desktop etc.

     

    Most of those in the news team include former staffers of Network 18, Bahl’s former company that was sold to Reliance Industries for Rs 700 crores. Former Web18 VP Roshan Tamang is the digital media consultant for the venture.

  • Raghav Bahl launches The Quint

    Raghav Bahl launches The Quint

    MUMBAI: “It’s actually a no brainer. If you have to reinvent, you have to simply start from scratch,” said Raghav Bahl as he introduced the team behind his latest venture- The Quint. 

     

    The man is gearing for his newest venture. After their stint with television, Bahl along with Ritu Kapur has, co founded their digital company called Quintillion Media. The name has been derived from the Quintillion (Kwin-til-yuh-n), which means the numerical one followed by 18 zeroes. 

     

    The company was registered on 23 August, last year, bearing the registration number 270795 with an authorised capital of Rs 130 crore. It invested in a start up called Quintype, based in the San Francisco Bay Area with entrepreneur Amit Rathore as CEO and chief product officer. At Quintype, Bahl is the chief strategist and board member while Kapur is the chief customer looking after the product and also a board member.

     

    In a video released on Facebook, the media mogul is seen introducing Quintillion’s first digital baby, which will be a mobile-first, algorithmic digital hand held news service named www.thequint.com. 

     

    The office is based at Noida’s Film City just a few buildings away from that of Network18.  

     

    Going by Indian tradition, not surprisingly an auspicious ‘pooja’ was performed in November, last year, as the startup is gearing to soar high. The content will be high on visual and imagery and crisper with the text. It will not be limited to news but also cover genres like technology, health among others. The aim of the platform is to ‘be the signal over the noise’. The current logo is that of the alphabet ‘Q’ in white and purple over a canary yellow background. On Facebook, it currently has 579 likes since its launch on 9 January.

     

    Giving his views on social media, Bahl wrote on Facebook, “Social media, especially Google and Facebook, are an independent journalist’s best friends, giving his piece a viral velocity impossible within the linear confines of newspapers and TV”

     

    All in all, it remains to be seen how this reinvention takes form as it gears to take over competitors like Scroll, Buzzfeed and The Huffington Post India.