MAM
Dentsu acquires digital agency Webchutney from Network18
MUMBAI: It‘s cashing out on its investment. Media conglomerate Network18 today announced that it was finally divesting its equity holding in digital marketing agency Webchutney to Japanese ad giant, Dentsu. The latter had been circling Webchutney, ogling it as an acquisition for nearly a year. Founded in 1999, Webchutney will reportedly be Dentsu‘s first local acquisition in the digital agency space.
Network18 had acquired a majority stake in Webchutney through its venture capital arm Capital18 in November 2007 and it says it has managed to get a 300 per cent return on its investment through the current transaction.
Webchutney, a leading interactive marketing and technology services agency, reported a net profit of Rs 6.35 crore in the financial year 2011-2012 on revenues of Rs 21.55 crore, according to media reports. It boasts a healthy clientele including Airtel, Microsoft, Unilever, Marico, Titan, MasterCard, Barclay‘s, Procter & Gamble among many others, and ranks among the top digital agencies in India.
Its full suite of digital offerings includes online advertising, web designing and development, search engine marketing and social media consulting. Its award winning teams are spread across Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore and consists of over 200 professionals.
Network18‘s 80 per cent Webchutney stake is bifurcated between Capital18 Mauritius which holds 49.42 per cent and Capital18 Fincap which has a 20.64 per cent.
Commenting on the transaction, Network18 MD Raghav Bahl says: “The divestiture of Webchutney, is a reflection of our commitment to profitably monetise our investment portfolio for the benefit of our shareholders and to also facilitate the growth of these businesses to the next level. We would like to convey our best wishes to the Webchutney team as they embark on the next phase of their journey.”
Webchutney co-founder and CEO Sidharth Rao says: “I am personally grateful to Sarbvir Singh who has been my mentor for the past five years and his team at Capital18 for ensuring that we shared a wonderful journey together. In Dentsu and Rohit Ohri, we have found a partner who is willing to invest in and cultivate our passion to provide path breaking digital creative services to our clients.”
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Dentsu India group executive chairman Rohit Ohri along with Webchutney co-founders Sidharth Rao (L) and Sudesh Samaria (R) |
Dentsu India group executive chairman Rohit Ohri opined that he is delighted to have India‘s No 1 digital agency as a part of the Dentsu India group. He explains: “We’re now going to be able to put world-class digital solutions in the centre of our offering to our clients.”
Now that could be music to anyone‘s ears.
Brands
IICT partners with Gativedhi to bring studio production tools to students
New MoU lets students explore AI-driven production pipelines for AVGC-XR
MUMBAI: The Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT) has teamed up with Gativedhi Technologies to give students a front-row seat to modern studio production. The collaboration will integrate Gativedhi’s AI-powered production intelligence platform, Shotrack, into academic programmes, letting students experience the workflow systems used by animation, VFX and gaming studios.
Under the MoU, faculty, students and researchers will get hands-on access to Shotrack through beta programmes, pilot deployments and academic evaluations. This will allow them to explore simulated production pipelines, understand asset management, track tasks and monitor schedules, essentially seeing how complex projects come together behind the scenes.
Shotrack is designed to tackle a key industry challenge: when multiple studios work on the same project, differing internal systems often create bottlenecks, slow approvals and complicate version control. The platform provides a unified production environment, enabling smoother collaboration across distributed teams while generating operational insights and predictive analytics to optimise crew allocation, forecast schedule risks and manage costs.
The collaboration also opens doors to Gativedhi’s wider ecosystem. Upcoming tools include StudioTrack, for studio operations management covering budgeting, recruitment and IT infrastructure, and WorkTrack, which measures workflow efficiency and team productivity across industries.
IICT plans to embed these tools into programmes covering animation pipelines, VFX workflows, gaming production and media project management. Students will also benefit from guest lectures, masterclasses, workshops, internships and research projects that connect academic learning with real-world studio practices.
IICT CEO Vishwas Deoskar, said the partnership provides “An environment where production pipeline tools can be explored, tested and refined while students gain insight into how large-scale productions are organised.”
Gativedhi Technologies founder & CEO Senthil Kumar added, “This collaboration introduces students to real-world studio management tools and helps us improve our platform with academic feedback.”
With Shotrack in classrooms, India’s future animators, VFX artists and gaming producers will get a taste of studio life long before they step into one.
