iWorld
Sports OTT VEQTA launches its mobile app for sports programming
NEW DELHI: India’s first digital broadcast network (OTT) VEQTA dedicated to sports has launched its flagship sports app which is now available for all android and IOS based mobile phones on the respective app stores.
Sports fans in India will now be able to watch a unique selection of amazing sports content from around the globe across Football, Cricket, Mixed Martial Arts, Wrestling, Basketball, Motorsports, Tennis, Golf, Olympic Sports and many more from the most authentic sources all over the world.
Founded by sports and financial sector leaders Vikram Tanwar, Varun Mathur, and Gaurav Gill, VEQTA aims to become the home of sport in India by serving fans a selection of the best diverse sports content from across the globe through Video On Demand and Live Streaming.
Talking about the launch, Co-founder and Director Gaurav Gill said, “VEQTA will redefine how sports fans in India consume sport. Through our unique licensed and studio developed sports content, our innovative offering will engage users with the kind of width and depth of sports content that has previously not been available in India. We will continue to innovate with our technology and expand our content portfolio to better serve the evolving needs of sports fans. VEQTA is the one app that every sports fan must have.”
VEQTA had already received seed investment a few months ago and has recently signed a number of partnerships and sports content licenses with leading sports personalities and organizations including partnerships with some of the leading mixed martial arts promotions.
It has also announced its partnerships with International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) and BAMMA, to bring all the MMA action to sports fans in India.
Mixed Martial Arts is one of the fastest growing sports in the country and is followed by millions of fans in India. In spite of the growing popularity of the sport, the availability of high quality MMA content is very limited. In two exciting new deals,VEQTA has partnered with IMMAF, a democratic hub for national MMA federations and BAMMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United Kingdom, to bring world class MMA action to fans in India.
Co-founder & Director of VEQTA Varun Mathur said, “The high paced action of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) has made it one of the most engaging and popular fight sports in India and our partnerships with IMMAF and BAMMA are another step towards offering world class content to these fans in the country. We are committed to building a strong fight sports portfolio led by MMA action that will be witnessed here for the first time. VEQTA aims to become the destination of choice for fans in India by providing a holistic digital viewing experience across a variety of sports.”
IMMAF President Kerrith Brown said, “We are excited to commence this partnership with VEQTA, which will seeIMMAF athletes gain exposure across India. With its population of 1.2+ billion and sports spectatorship booming, India is a much coveted market for sports brands and we feel privileged to be enabled to reach MMA fans in the region. India is also home to one of IMMAF’s strongest national federations, the All India Mixed Martial Arts Association (AIMMAA), which has presence across more than 20 states within the country. We are pleased to announce that Team India’s supporters and sports fans back home can now catch up on their Amateur MMA team’s achievements at IMMAF championships events in 2016 and beyond.”
BAMMA CEO David Green said, “We are excited at our first foray into the market in India with our partners, VEQTA, and we are looking forward to showcase some of the finest MMA action to the population”
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Meta plans 8,000 layoffs in new AI-led restructuring wave
First phase from May 20 may cut 10 per cent workforce amid AI pivot.
MUMBAI: At Meta, the future may be artificial but the cuts are very real. The social media giant is reportedly preparing a fresh round of layoffs, with an initial wave expected to impact around 8,000 employees as it doubles down on its artificial intelligence ambitions. According to a Reuters report, the first phase of job cuts is slated to begin on May 20, targeting roughly 10 per cent of Meta’s global workforce. With nearly 79,000 employees on its rolls as of December 31, the move marks one of the company’s most significant workforce reductions in recent years.
And this may only be the beginning. Sources indicate that additional layoffs are being planned for the second half of the year, although the scale and timing remain fluid, likely to be shaped by how Meta’s AI capabilities evolve in the coming months. Earlier reports had suggested that total cuts in 2026 could reach 20 per cent or more of its workforce.
The restructuring comes as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg continues to steer the company towards an AI-first operating model, committing hundreds of billions of dollars to the transition. Internally, this shift is already visible: teams within Reality Labs have been reorganised, engineers have been moved into a newly formed Applied AI unit, and a Meta Small Business division has been created to align with broader structural changes.
The trend is hardly isolated. Across the tech sector, companies are trimming headcount while investing aggressively in automation. Amazon, for instance, has reportedly cut around 30,000 corporate roles nearly 10 per cent of its white-collar workforce citing efficiency gains driven by AI. Data from Layoffs.fyi shows over 73,000 tech employees have already lost jobs this year, compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
For Meta, the move echoes its earlier “year of efficiency” in 2022–23, when about 21,000 roles were eliminated amid slowing growth and market pressures. This time, however, the backdrop is different. The company is financially stronger, generating over $200 billion in revenue and $60 billion in profit last year, with shares up 3.68 per cent year-to-date though still below last summer’s peak.
That contrast underlines the shift underway. These layoffs are less about survival and more about reinvention. As Meta restructures itself around AI from autonomous coding agents to advanced machine learning systems, the question is no longer whether the company will change, but how many roles will be left unchanged when it does.
