MAM
Pune based sisters launch ecommerce platform – Maneraa, that promises visibility for aspiring designers and budding brands in India
Dec 2020, India: Maneraa, a new-age multi- brand lifestyle and fashion ecommerce platform has been launched in India by Pune based sisters and fashion enthusiasts Shabna Salam and Shaiba Salam. The brand is an online aggregator that provides a whole new made-in-India online shopping experience for women, men and kids. They offer a range of products that have been created by lesser known brands specially handpicked for their design and quality by the founders.
The concept behind this brand is to recognise the potential for small, unbranded fashion & lifestyle retailers, to help them manage quality and to give them an opportunity to share their unique products with the India-wide market on an online aggregator platform. Maneraa is an equal-opportunity platform that bridges the gap between aspiration and access for both buyers and sellers.
The company seeks to provide shoppers the desired uniqueness and exclusivity in their wardrobe through beautiful designer wear that does not come with a hefty price tag. The platform sells traditional fusion and western wear and features a varied array of exquisite accessories and lifestyle products.
Commenting on the launch Shabna, Founder & Director – We want to position Maneraa as a ‘Creator of happiness’. Maneraa will craft a space in the ecommerce market where our buyers get to choose from hundreds of brands with new designs that have been created by talented yet unrecognised designers from around the country. Our sole purpose is to make the online shopping experience on our platform incredibly delightful by giving consumers a one stop solution to find fashionable yet affordable products.
Adds Shaiba, Co-Founder,- Fashion is no longer the domain of the urban elite – young men and women in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities are increasingly developing a taste for looking good without spending too much. E-commerce is the ideal way to reach these buyers, and platforms like Maneraa allow them to shop from hitherto a number of brands at affordable prices whenever they wish.
She adds, “The SME industry is a dominant one in India and Maneraa also seeks to improve India’s GDP by giving new impetus to unbranded sellers. Each retailer is provided with an e-commerce shopfront and an inventory/order management software through which they can process and track orders. Once their accounts are set up, small retailers with high-quality fashion products but no market exposure can compete side by side with major brands for the customer’s attention.”
Maneraa seeks to onboard over 500 unique sellers by 2021 to cater to 2 million+ buyers across India. With its commitment towards sustainable growth and its inclusion of all its employees and sellers in its goal to create happiness, Maneraa is all set to become one of the top affordable fashion brands in India in the years to come.
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
