Serial media entrepreneur Raghav Bahl invested an additional $7.2 million (Rs 50 crore) in his flagship news website ‘The Quint’ and other digital media properties, according to data intelligence platform paper.vc.
“According to regulatory filings by Quintillion MediaPvt Ltd, Bahl has invested $7.2 million in The Quint out of $21.5 million (Rs150 crore) he will invest in three tranches, with the latest investment as thefirst tranche,” said the media firm’s filing.
Bahl confirmed to IANS that the investment disclosed in thefiling by Quintillion Media Pvt Ltd (part of its routine annual disclosures tothe registrar of companies), relates not just to The Quint, but to the entiresuite of digital properties it has investments in.
These include, among others, Bloomberg Quint, Quintype, TheNews Minute, Sheroes, and Youth ki Awaaz.
The latest investment follows two consecutive investments inMarch and April, totalling $14.36 million (Rs 100 crore).
“In total, Bahl is deploying $36.13 million (Rs 252crore) in capital, which is an unprecedented investment, considering thecumulative investment of $21.5 million since the company was founded five yearsago,” said the Chennai-based paper.vc in a statement to IANS.
Bahl launched the news portal in English and Hindi with RituKapur initially on the world’s largest social media platform Facebook inJanuary 2015 and subsequently as a website in March 2015.Incidentally, Bahl has been under the scanner ofthe Income-Tax Department and the Enforcement Directorate over an alleged moneylaundering case arising out of reported tax evasion, according to mediareports.