iWorld
Gupshup announces launch of bot builder platform gupshup.io in India
MUMBAI: Gupshup, the world’s leading messaging platform trusted by developers in more than 30,000 businesses, has announced the launch of its new bot builder platform, gupshup.io, poised to lead a new wave of bot revolution in India. The Gupshup.io platform consists of omni-channel messaging APIs and bot builder tools. The omni-channel APIs enable connectivity to almost every messaging channel including SMS, Facebook Messenger, Slack, Telegram, Teamchat etc, with more to be added soon. The bot builder tools support the entire bot lifecycle including development, testing, deployment, hosting, publishing, monitoring, tracking, search and discovery of bots.
With messaging apps recently opening up APIs for businesses to build bots, we’re now on the verge of a once-in-a-decade paradigm shift in the tech industry. After desktop and clients in the mid-80s, browsers and websites in the mid-90s, and mobile OS and apps in the mid-00s, messaging platforms and bots are emerging as the next wave of tech revolution. Virtually everything that we do today on websites or apps will soon be done through bots. Bots will enable shopping, ordering food, banking, trading and most other activities through your favourite messaging app.
“Bots are the new apps. Bots will transform virtually every aspect of our lives, making it simpler and easier to engage with businesses and brands just by chatting with them”, said Gupshup founder and CEO Beerud Sheth. He further added, “Every business and brand will have to develop a bot strategy quickly. Gupshup.io offers the most advanced tools globally for developers preparing to meet the explosive demand for messaging bots and services.”
Gupshup used its extensive experience with the bot building process to automate common tasks performed by every bot developer. The Gupshup platform enables a developer to build, test and deploy a bot across multiple channels in minutes. The bot is automatically hosted with a one-click deploy process. Post-launch monitoring and tracking of bots has also been automated. An omni-channel bot store enables the search and discovery of bots, helping developers to promote their bots. Instead of using a patchwork of tools, the Gupshup platform offers an end-to-end integrated platform for developers that frees them up to focus on their specific workflows.
Gupshup continues to operate its smart-messaging app Teamchat, which pioneered the concept of smart messages i.e. structured fields within chat messages. Teamchat was the earliest and most bot-friendly messaging app, currently being used by over 2,000 businesses, including companies like HDFC, ICICI, Biostadt, Meru Cabs, PNB Metlife and others. Bots built on Teamchat continue to support enterprise use-cases such as CRM, HR and ERP.
iWorld
Micro-Dramas Surge in India, Redefining Mobile Content Habits
Meta-Ormax study maps rapid rise of short-form storytelling among 18–44 audiences.
MUMBAI: Micro-dramas aren’t just short, they’re the snack that ate Indian entertainment, and now everyone’s bingeing between the sofa cushions. Meta, in partnership with Ormax Media, has released ‘Micro Dramas: The India Story’, a comprehensive study unveiled at the inaugural Meta Marketing Summit: Micro-Drama Edition. The report maps how the vertical, bite-sized format is reshaping content consumption for mobile-first audiences aged 18–44 across 14 states.
Conducted between November 2025 and January 2026 through 50 in-depth interviews and 2,000 personal surveys, the research reveals that 65 per cent of viewers discovered micro-dramas within the last year proof of explosive adoption. Nearly 89 per cent encounter the format through social feeds and recommendations, making algorithm-driven discovery the primary engine rather than active search.
Key viewing patterns show a median of 3.5 hours per week (about 30 minutes daily) spread across 7–8 short sessions. Consumption peaks between 8 pm and midnight, with additional spikes during commutes and work breaks classic “in-between moments” that the format fills perfectly. Around 57 per cent of viewing happens in ambient mode (while doing something else), and 90 per cent is solo, enabling more intimate, personal storytelling.
Romance, family drama and comedy lead genre preferences. Audiences show growing openness to AI-generated content, 47 per cent find it unique and creative, while only 6 per cent say they would avoid it entirely. Regional languages are surging after Hindi and English, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada dominate consumption.
Meta, director, media & entertainment (India) Shweta Bajpai said, “Micro-drama isn’t a passing trend, it’s rewriting the rules of Indian entertainment. In under a year, an entirely new category of platforms has emerged, built audience habits from scratch, and created a business vertical that is scaling fast.”
Ormax Media founder-CEO Shailesh Kapoor added, “Micro-dramas are beginning to show the early signs of becoming a distinct content category in India’s digital entertainment landscape. When a format aligns closely with how audiences naturally engage with their devices, it has the potential to scale very quickly.”
The study proposes ecosystem-wide responsibility, universal signposting of commercial intent, shared accountability among advertisers, platforms, creators, schools and parents, built-in safeguards, and formal media literacy in schools.
In a feed that never sleeps and a day that never stops, micro-dramas have slipped into the cracks of every spare minute turning 30-second stories into the new national pastime, one vertical swipe at a time.
