iWorld
OTTplay and DistroTV announce partnership to stream 180 free live channels in India
Mumbai: DistroTV, a leading global streaming platform owned by DistroScale, and OTTplay Premium, a OTT content streaming, discovery and recommendation platform, have announced a new partnership that will bring DistroTV’s 170+ free-to-watch, live streaming channels to OTTplay users in India.
OTTplay Premium, is a popular OTT platform in India that gives you access to 24+ OTT platforms with personalized recommendations of shows, web series and movies based on a user’s preference of language, genre, platform, actor, filmmaker, and more. This partnership with DistroTV will significantly expand the content available to OTTplay Premium users.
“DistroTV’s mission has always been to bring diverse, global voices to audiences around the world,” said DistroScale CEO Navdeep Saini. “This partnership with OTTplay allows us to further that mission by bringing our extensive lineup of live streaming channels to even more viewers in India.”
DistroScale India, SEA, and MENA CEO Vikas Khanchandani added, “We are thrilled to partner with OTTplay, a platform that shares our commitment to delivering a wide range of content to viewers. This partnership will allow us to reach even more viewers in India, providing them with access to our diverse lineup of channels.”
“OTTplay Premium is excited to partner with Distro TV to bring live TV channels to more viewers in India. This partnership is a testament to our commitment to providing our users with the best possible entertainment experience. We are confident that our users will enjoy the wide variety of content that Distro TV has to offer, and we look forward to working with them to make it even more accessible and enjoyable for our viewers,” said OTTplay CEO & co-founder Avinash Mudaliar.
This partnership reinforces DistroTV’s commitment to bringing diverse, global voices to audiences around the world, and OTTplay’s commitment to helping users discover new and exciting content.
e-commerce
American Express to acquire AI startup Hyper to boost automation
Deal targets expense management as AI reshapes corporate spending tools.
MUMBAI: From receipts to robots, the expense sheet is getting a brain upgrade as American Express moves to bring artificial intelligence into the heart of corporate spending. The company has announced plans to acquire Hyper, a relatively young but fast-rising startup founded in 2022 that builds AI-powered agents capable of organising expenses, generating reports, verifying compliance with budgets and policies, and nudging users with timely reminders. The deal, expected to close in the second quarter of 2026, underscores a growing shift among financial institutions to automate traditionally manual, time-heavy workflows.
Hyper counts Sam Altman among its backers, adding a layer of Silicon Valley credibility to the acquisition. While financial details remain undisclosed, the strategic intent is clear: deepen automation capabilities and sharpen American Express’s position in the competitive corporate spending ecosystem.
The two companies are not strangers. They previously collaborated in 2024 on a co-branded credit card product, suggesting that the acquisition is less a cold buy and more an extension of an existing relationship. With this move, American Express is effectively bringing that capability in-house, aiming to embed AI directly into its commercial services stack.
Chief executive Stephen Squeri had already signalled the direction of travel in a recent shareholder letter, describing AI as a “structural shift” in how businesses operate. The Hyper acquisition appears to be a direct response to that shift, particularly in expense management, where processes such as approvals, compliance checks and reporting remain ripe for automation.
Alongside the acquisition, the company is also expanding its product suite. A recently launched business credit card offers cashback and benefits at an annual fee of $295, with another card expected later this year moves that complement its broader push into commercial services.
Taken together, the strategy points to a future where managing expenses may require fewer spreadsheets and more algorithms. For American Express, the bet is simple, if businesses are rethinking how work gets done, the tools that power that work need to evolve just as quickly.
