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Collective Artists Network acquires Under 25 Universe
Mumbai: Collective Artists Network, India’s leading creator marketplace has announced its acquisition of the Under 25 Universe, a pioneering learning-technology company focused on holistic education and independent thought leadership. Collective Artists Network’s flywheel of businesses is primed to invigorate the creator economy, targeting the very foundation of the pyramid—the student population.
This strategic move harnesses the cult-like following cultivated by the Under 25 Universe while empowering student culture and providing students with unrivalled opportunities and support, setting them up for success within the creator ecosystem.
“This acquisition marks an exciting milestone for Collective Artists Network and the Under 25 Universe,” said Collective Artists Network founder and group CEO Vijay Subramaniam. ” We recognise the immense potential in the student population of India and believe in the power of creators to shape the future. With our extensive history of discovering and nurturing talent in India’s vibrant pop culture landscape, we are uniquely positioned to usher students into the heart of the creator economy at an early stage. By leveraging our flywheel, we aim to provide best-in-class opportunities and propel the creator economy from the ground up, starting with students.”
The Under 25 Universe has captivated a devoted following through its innovative app, the Under 25 summit, and multiple media platforms, fostering a strong connection with students and enhancing their cultural impact.
“We are reimagining the way the world of students interacted, learnt and engaged with the world of professionals. We have seen that the mindset building plays a key role in crafting the life of a student, they need tools to help them think better, mental models to break down complicated concepts and frameworks to execute at scale. We are on a mission to help students turn pro and this partnership allows us to scale our impact and further our mission of making holistic learning accessible to driven students, while also providing them with the tools and resources to succeed.” said Under 25 Universe CEO and co-founder Anto Philip.
“Collective Artists Network has a proven track record of nurturing and propelling talent, transforming influencers into entrepreneurs,” said Under 25 co-founder Shreyans Jain.”Under 25 is committed to fostering independent thought leaders through an educational approach that transcends the confines of textbooks, traditional curricula, and classroom walls. By combining the strengths of Collective Artists Network and the Under 25 Universe, the acquisition sets the stage for groundbreaking collaborations, innovation, and the rise of a new wave of creators who will shape the cultural and entrepreneurial landscape of India.
NATIONAL: Amazon Ads has laid out a sharply tech-led vision for the advertising industry in 2026, arguing that artificial intelligence, streaming TV and creator partnerships will combine to turn brand building into a more precise, performance-driven business.
At the heart of the shift, the company says, is the fusion of AI with Amazon’s vast trove of shopping, browsing and streaming signals, allowing advertisers to move beyond blunt reach metrics to campaigns designed around real customer behaviour.
“The future of advertising is not about reaching more people, but the right people with messages that resonate,” said Amazon Ads India head and vice president Girish Prabhu. “By combining AI with deep customer insights, we help brands move from broadcasting campaigns to having meaningful conversations wherever audiences spend their time.”
One of the biggest changes, according to Amazon Ads, will be the collapse of the wall between media planning and creative development. Retail media, powered by first-party data, is increasingly shaping everything from brand discovery to final purchase, pushing marketers to design campaigns around audience insight rather than internal instinct.
AI is also moving from a support tool to a creative engine. Agentic AI, which automates and accelerates production, is expected to make high-quality creative accessible even to small businesses, compressing weeks of work into hours and giving challengers the ability to compete with larger brands on speed and scale.
Behind the scenes, AI-driven analytics will take on a bigger role in campaign optimisation, identifying patterns, spotting opportunities and recommending actions that would previously have required teams of analysts.
Streaming TV is another big battleground. With India’s video streaming audience now above 600 million and connected TV users at 129.2 million in 2025, advertisers are set to treat streaming not just as a branding channel but as a performance engine, measured increasingly by sales, sign-ups and bookings rather than just reach.
Finally, Amazon Ads sees creators and contextual advertising reshaping how brands tell stories. Creators will act less like influencers and more like long-term partners, while scene-aware ads on streaming platforms will allow brands to insert hyper-relevant offers into the flow of what viewers are watching.
Taken together, Amazon Ads argues, these shifts mark a move towards advertising that is both more human and more measurable, where AI handles the complexity, and creativity does the persuading.
