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Eros powers up as USD 150 million boost fuels its AI entertainment play
MUMBAI: In a plot twist worthy of its own cinematic universe, Eros Innovation has fired up its next growth chapter with a USD 150 million burst of capital and strategic acquisitions, a move that cements its standing as a $ 2-billion valued, zero-debt, AI-driven global entertainment powerhouse.
The expansion is anchored by a $ 50 million primary investment led by Plenitude Capital and advised by Greenback Capital at DIFC. Alongside it sits nearly USD 100 million in content and technology acquisitions, creating a formidable runway for Eros Innovation’s ambitions in AI compute infrastructure, immersive story formats, and large-scale creative technologies.
Eros Group Founder and Chairman Kishore Lulla framed the accelerated scale with trademark flourish, “With over $1 billion in assets, $150 million in new capital and acquisitions, $35 million in EBITDA last year, and a clear trajectory to exceed $100 million by December 2026, Eros Innovation is scaling with both profitability and discipline. We are building the sovereign creative infrastructure of the future… where content, capital, and computation converge to deliver intelligent and ethical entertainment to billions.”
At the centre of this creative superstructure stands Eros GenAI, the company’s proprietary multimodal AI foundation model developed with IIT Chennai. Trained on 1.5 trillion cinematic, cultural, musical and behavioural tokens, the model positions itself as India’s first sovereign cultural AI stack, powering everything from automated dubbing and generative music to AI-native characters for virtual, live and interactive experiences.
Strengthening the experiential side of its universe, Eros Innovation has acquired 100 per cent of Empirical Wax, a London immersive tech studio known for real-time AI music, avatar-driven performances and mixed-reality worlds. Adding further heft, the company has completed a $97 million IP acquisition, rounding up films, multilingual digital assets and high-value music titles to enrich its content engine.
Today, Eros Innovation operates one of the world’s most expansive entertainment-tech infrastructures, spanning 80 million-plus subscribers, 12,000-plus film titles, 100,000-plus AI-ready characters, and a global fan base that crosses 2 billion people. All these assets form the launchpad for the upcoming Eros Universe Super App, a creator-economy platform that promises to fuse AI tools, tokenised content and immersive storytelling into a single seamless global interface.
With capital secured, IP consolidated and AI at its core, Eros Innovation isn’t just scaling, it’s scripting a future where the world’s next blockbuster may well be written, scored and performed by intelligence it built itself
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YES Bank hands the keys to SBI veteran Vinay Tonse as it bets on a new era
Former SBI managing director appointed as YES Bank’s new MD and CEO
MUMBAI: YES Bank is done rebuilding. Now it wants to grow. The private sector lender has appointed Vinay Muralidhar Tonse as managing director and chief executive officer-designate, with RBI approval secured and a start date of April 6, 2026 confirmed. The three-year term signals the bank’s intent to shift gears from crisis recovery to full-throttle expansion.
Tonse, 60, is no stranger to scale. Most recently managing director at State Bank of India, he oversaw a retail book of roughly $800bn in deposits and advances, one of the largest in the country. Before that, he ran SBI Mutual Fund from August 2020 to December 2022, a stint that saw assets under management surge from Rs 4.32 lakh crore to Rs 7.32 lakh crore across market cycles. Add stints in Singapore and four years leading SBI’s overseas operations in Osaka, and the incoming chief arrives with a genuinely global CV.
His academic grounding is equally solid: a commerce degree from St Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bengaluru, and a master’s in commerce from Bangalore University.
The appointment follows an extensive search and evaluation process by the bank’s Nomination and Remuneration Committee. NRC chairperson Nandita Gurjar said the committee unanimously backed Tonse, citing his leadership track record, governance credentials and ability to drive the bank’s next phase of transformation.
Non-executive chairman Rama Subramaniam Gandhi was unequivocal. “I am certain that Vinay Tonse, with his vast experience as a senior banker, will propel YES Bank to its next phase of growth,” Gandhi said, adding that the bank remains focused on strengthening its retail and corporate banking franchises and expanding its branch network.
Rajeev Kannan, non-executive director and senior executive at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, the bank’s largest shareholder, said Tonse’s experience across retail, corporate banking, global markets and asset management positioned him well to lead the lender. SMBC said it looks forward to working with Tonse and the board as YES Bank pursues its ambition of becoming a top-tier private sector lender anchored in strong governance and sustainable growth.
Tonse succeeds Prashant Kumar, who took the helm in March 2020 when YES Bank was in freefall following a severe financial crisis, and spent six years painstakingly stabilising the institution, rebuilding governance and restoring operational scale. Gandhi was generous: “The bank remains indebted to Prashant Kumar, who is responsible for much of what a strong financial powerhouse YES Bank is today.”
Tonse, for his part, struck a purposeful note. “Together with the board and my colleagues, I remain deeply committed to creating long-term value for all our stakeholders,” he said, pledging to build on Kumar’s foundation guided by his personal motto: Make A Difference.
Beyond the balance sheet, Tonse played cricket at college and club level and represented Karnataka in archery at the national championships — sports he credits with teaching him teamwork, situational leadership, discipline and focus. In quieter moments, he reaches for retro Kannada music, classic Hindi songs, and the crooning of Engelbert Humperdinck, Mukesh and Kishore Kumar.
YES Bank has its steady-handed rebuilder in Kumar to thank for survival. Now it has a scale-obsessed growth banker at the wheel. The next chapter starts April 6.
