Power of Ideas 2012: How startup iStream is India’s answer to Netflix

Founded in 2007, iStream is the closest India has to Netflix, the global internet subscription service streaming TV shows and movies.

In fact, the Bangalorebased startup has gone one step further after it tied up with sports broadcaster Neo Sports to stream the Euro 2012 championship –– one of the biggest events in the global football calendar ––for the Indian audience.

The company, started by journalist-turned-entrepreneur Radhakrishnan Ramachandran and former Oracle alumni Chellappa Dhanukodi, looks to deliver high-quality streaming service that provides premium video content, including news, television shows and movies, to all internet-connected devices.

Also see: The Economic Times presents The Power of Ideas


“We realised that making our own content was not an inexpensive proposition. We needed to build an ecosystem, bringing TV channels on board.
Many of them were sitting on a pile of archived content; but barely had an online presence,” Ramachandran, chief executive, iStream, pointed out.

In 2008, the company partnered with the world’s biggest video platform –– YouTube –– and became the latter’s largest content partner in India, aggregating close to a billion views. Risk capital ventures also evinced interest in the start-up .

In late-2011 , global private equity firm SAIF Partners, which manages around $1.2 billion in assets under management, invested around $5 million in the company.

“We bet on genres like news and regional content, on a platform which was hitherto gungho only about cricket and Bollywood. The gamble has paid off,” Ramachandran said.

Currently, iStream partners with over 50 television channels, spanning the country, including vernacular channels such as Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu, and has uploaded over 100,000 videos since its launch. With regard to monetisation of its service, the company is exploring a subscription model for its markets outside India.

“Currently, we are focused on building the best user experience for Indian video content. We believe that revenues will come if we are successful in that goal,” Ramachandran said.