Hindustan Media Ventures, the Hindi arm of mass media company HT Media Ltd, said it invested Rs 4 crore in the media and entertainment firm Aleph Digital Solutions Pvt Ltd.
Incorporated in November 2017, Aleph operates Pebble, a hyper-local content marketplace and LocalHeading, a news site.
Pebble offers verified hyper-local content to publishers at an affordable price on a-la-carte basis, or pick-and-pay basis from verified journalists.
LocalHeading is a local news aggregation portal where reporters and institutions can create their own pages and find followers.
Aleph had net sales of 0.47 lakhs in FY 2019.
“The investment would offer an opportunity to build key propositions in news gathering and news aggregation in an asset light model, with relatively low outlay and risk”, said Hindustan Media Ventures.
It said that it will invest in Aleph in two tranches of Rs 2 crore each, before March 31, 2020.
Upon tranche 1 investment, Hindustan Media Ventures will acquire 14.25% of equity shares of Aleph Digital Solutions.
Incorporated in 1918, Hindustan Media Ventures operates brands such as Hindustan, Anokhee, Hindustan Job Search, Kadambini, Tann Mann and Nandan.
The company has operations in Delhi, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand.
