New Delhi, June 18 -- Rusk Media Pvt Ltd, a digital entertainment company that builds video intellectual properties for Gen Z and millennial audiences, has recorded a jump in its valuation as it secured fresh capital from a bunch of investors.

The New Delhi-based company, which was incorporated in 2019, has raised Rs 100 crore ($10.6 million) in its pre-Series C funding round led by existing investor Nazara Technologies Ltd.

Other existing backers InfoEdge Ventures, IvyCap Ventures and a consortium led by Audacity VC also doubled down on the company, Rusk Media said in a statement.

As a part of the transaction, representatives of the Mumbai-listed gaming company Nazara Technologies and Audacity VC will join the Rusk's board of directors.

Rusk said it will use the fresh capital to support its expansion across content, platform, and technology, scale its popular IPs such as I-Popstar, its flagship talent reality franchise, and Engaged, an unscripted reality dating show, to new languages and international audiences. It will also use a part of the capital to grow its GenZ-focused proprietary mobile entertainment platform Alright! TV, and launch a new pipeline of sports and audio-first content formats targeting Gen Z and Gen Alpha consumers.

"By combining AI-driven production with agile formats - Alright! TV, sports, audio news - we are building world-class entertainment infrastructure from India for the world," said Mayank Yadav, chief executive and co-founder of Rusk Media.

Rusk Media, founded by Yadav, Karanvir Sofat, and Shantanu Singh, conceives, produces, and distributes content across social and OTT platforms. Since its inception, the company has produced and released over 20+ titles across fiction, unscripted/reality Live projects. These include names such as Battleground, Playground, Engaged, School Friends, Delhi vs Mumbai, and Roomies among others.

Valuation bump

While Rusk Media didn't reveal any other financial details of the pre-Series C round, Nazara separately disclosed that it invested about Rs 14.99 crore in the pre-Series C round to pick up a 1.36% stake on a fully diluted basis. This additional infusion takes Nazara's stake in Rusk Media to 7.62% on a fully diluted basis.

This suggests the pre-Series C round valued Rusk Media a tad above Rs 1,100 crore, or approximately $117 million, on a post-money basis, according to VCCircle estimates.

This, in turn, means Rusk Media's valuation has almost doubled from less than Rs 500 crore eight months ago when it completed its Series B round. That round was led by IvyCap Ventures and totaled Rs 103 crore in primary and secondary transactions.

Rusk Media previously raised $9.5 million in a Series A round in 2022 led by DAOL Investment and Audacity Ventures, with participation from InfoEdge Ventures, Mistry Ventures, and Survam Partners.

Nazara first invested in Rusk Media in late 2021, picking up a 5.54% stake for just Rs 2.02 crore. At that price, Rusk Media would have been valued around Rs 36.5 crore, back-of-the-envelope calculations show. Nazara's stake likely diluted over the years as Rusk Media raised additional capital.

Last year, Nazara spent another Rs 27.15 crore to buy a 5.23% stake in Rusk Media from its own associate company Nodwin Gaming. The secondary transaction valued Rusk Media a little more than Rs 500 crore.

For perspective, Nazara itself is valued around Rs 11,000 crore, stock-exchange data show.

Rusk's rapid growth

The jump in Rusk Media's valuation has coincided with a rapid increase in its revenue. The company clocked revenue of only Rs 3.4 crore in FY20. This more than doubled to Rs 7.1 crore in FY21.

Rusk's topline has followed a similar high-growth trajectory since then. Its revenue grew to Rs 16.7 crore in FY22, Rs 39.5 crore in FY23, Rs 57.06 crore in FY24 and Rs 81.4 crore in FY25, regulatory filings show.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.