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ACT Karya together to transform tech landscape for livelihood opportunities to rural communities
Mumbai: ACT, an Indian venture philanthropy organisation has announced its support to Karya, a startup that leverages technology as a means to provide livelihood and up-skilling opportunities to disadvantaged communities. The Rs 4 Cr grant aims to support Karya in its vision to bring 100 million people out of poverty by building ethical data collection methods that fairly compensate its workers, most of whom are primarily from rural India.
ACT director Aakanksha Gulati said, “Karya’s strong tech DNA has allowed them to show exponential growth over the last two years in generating high quality Indian-language data sets to train Large Language Models (LLMs) for a variety of AI use cases. At the same time, this DNA is also deeply rooted in the mission of uplifting India’s most vulnerable out of poverty. This potent combination has enabled them to offer workers from underserved communities as much as 20 times the prevailing minimum wage in India. With our first joint grant from ACT For Education and ACT For Women verticals, we’re excited to support Karya in their journey to on board and help accelerate national as well as international demand for their data work and generate insights on the impact of this model on capacity building and income generation for individuals across rural India, with an emphasis on gender-specific nuances.”
As per UNDP’s Multidimensional Poverty Index, ‘200 million people in India live in poverty. However, with the massive growth of AI across businesses, there is a huge demand for data to train AI/ML models. Karya is leveraging this opportunity by providing simplified data work to rural Indians through its micro tasking platform, the Karya App. Their solution democratises digital data work that has the potential to generate up to Rs 1500 in supplementary income for data collectors from underserved communities within a year and accelerate their social mobility. Additionally, through their ‘earn then learn model’, Karya also supports the workers with upskilling opportunities via Karya Learn and career guidance through Karya Grow.
Karya co-founder Manu Chopra said, “We are thrilled about this partnership with ACT; their investment will enable Karya to dramatically accelerate our work and create even more meaningful impact. As an organisation committed to using technology to bring dignified, digital work opportunities to our communities, we are heartened to be a part of the ACT community and are deeply grateful for their support,” said Since its inception in 2021, Karya has impacted over 32,000 individuals (60 per cent of whom are women), across more than 25 states/UTs, who have received wages totalling Rs 4.5 Cr for the completion of more than 35Mn digital tasks.
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Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
