New Delhi: Online content platform Dailyhunt Wednesday said it is witnessing a strong growth in downloads and time spent on its newly launched short video app ‘Josh’, and expects the daily user base to more than double to 50 million over the next few months.
The app which was released on Google Play store in July in a beta mode has already amassed 23 million daily active users (DAUs) and is seeing users spend about 21 minutes on average on the platform.
On a monthly basis, the user base is at 50 million.
A number of homegrown apps have been launched in the country after the Indian government on June 29 banned 59 mobile apps with Chinese links, including the popular short video platform TikTok terming these apps prejudicial to sovereignty of the country.
Facebook’s Instagram too has launched ‘Reels’ within its app to cash in on the spurt in usage of such platforms after the TikTok ban.
Dailyhunt co-founder Umang Bedi told PTI that Josh is a “mahagathbandhan” (mega confluence) of the best creators in the country and the biggest music labels.
He added that Dailyhunt’s artificial intelligence/machine learning capabilities and deep learning technologies enable smart curation of content and tracks user preferences to deliver real-time, personalised content and notifications and Josh is powered by the same tech stack.
Dailyhunt is a major player in the online local language content space and offers over one million new content artifacts daily in 14 languages.
“We have seen phenomenal traction through the beta phase, and Josh is our tribute to Bharat, celebrating its creative beauty and diversity. We already have over 200 A-rated exclusive creators, 4 music labels (T-Series, Sony, Zee Music and Divo Music), over one billion video plays per day, more than 23 million DAUs and over 5 million User Generated Content (UGC) creators,” he said.
Bedi said over the next few months, the DAUs are expected to grow to 50 million, while the time spent is expected to go up to 40 minutes.
The UGC creator base is also poised to expand to 10-15 million, while the number of videos played daily is expected to touch 8 billion.
“Josh is the manifestation of our commitment to three big promises. First, to play our part in the Digital Bharat and Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiatives. Second, to empower the large and indigenous ecosystem of talented creators in every nook and corner of our country and third is to promote the rich heritage and culture of India,” Dailyhunt founder Virendra Gupta said.
Josh will offer videos of up to 120 seconds across various categories namely viral, trending, glamour, dance, devotion, yoga and cooking, among others. Josh is currently on Android, and will soon be available to iOS users.
Bedi said a significant chunk of Josh’s user base would come from tier II and III cities.
Josh will incentivise creators upon hitting certain milestones (similar to other short video platforms) from internal accruals currently. It will explore monetisation routes like brand associations as well.
Interestingly, many creators from TikTok – including Faisal Shaikh (Mr Faisu) and his Team 07 pals, Sameeksha Sud and her Teen Tigada counterparts, Bhavin Bhanushali and Vishal Pandey – have joined Josh.
PTI
