VerSe cuts burn by 51% in FY24, eyes profitability in H2 CY25

VerSe Innovation, the parent company of vernacular news aggregator Dailyhunt and social media app Josh, has reported a significant 51% reduction in EBITDA burn during the last fiscal year.

This marks a major shift in its focus towards operational efficiency and sustainable growth.  The company’s EBITDA burn dropped from Rs 1,448 crore in FY23 to Rs 710 crore in FY24, VerSe said in a press release. The losses exclude non-cash expenses. 

Verse reported total revenue of Rs 1,261 crore in FY24, compared to Rs 1,356 crore in FY23.

VerSe brought down its cost of services by 17% to Rs 1,155 crore and slashed business promotion expenses by 65%, from Rs 969 crore in FY23 to Rs 339 crore during the fiscal year ending March 2024, as per the release.

Building on this momentum, VerSe is projecting revenue growth of over 75% in FY25, far exceeding the 10–15% growth rate expected for the Indian digital advertising sector. The company’s growth plans are supported by its investment in AI-led tools and platforms. These include the AdTech platform NexVerse.ai, the subscription service Dailyhunt Premium in partnership with Magzter, audio content formats on Josh, and VerSe Collab, a platform for managing influencer campaigns.

VerSe is also targeting break-even in the second half of calendar year 2025. The firm aims to achieve growth through a mix of product innovation, AI automation, and expanded monetization efforts. Its recent acquisitions like Magzter and ValueLeaf are expected to further strengthen the company’s presence in subscription content and enterprise engagement, accelerating growth across both B2B and consumer verticals.

VerSe was valued at $5 billion after raising a $805 million round in April 2022. The firm claims to have over 350 million users every month (MAU). 

Dailyhunt competes with Inshorts in the news aggregation and hyper-local video business, whereas its short video app Josh competes with ShareChat’s Moj, YouTube Shorts and Instagram, among others.