iWorld
HT Labs is a hub for all product, tech, and thought leadership: Avinash Mudaliar
Mumbai: Launched in April 2020, HT Media’s innovation hub for digital-first products – HT Labs has built a diverse portfolio of products spanning edtech (HT School), fintech (MintGenie), OTT (OTTplay), food (Slurrp), and digital publishing (Upublish) in the B2B and B2C domains in just 18 months.
While OTTplay is a content discovery and recommendation platform that aggregates information from over 50 OTT platforms in Indian and Asia, HT Schools, with its focus on holistic learning and development, has nearly 40-45 courses in collaboration with well-known names such as Shaan and Sabrina Merchant among others.
Digital Publishing platform Upublish, though catering to independent writers and journalists as well, is largely a B2B product targeting small and medium publishers. MintGenie is a fintech app intended as a ‘learn, earn, and grow ecosystem’ for those with little or no knowledge of investing.
HT Labs is led by publishing industry veteran Avinash Mudaliar who is the company’s co-founder and CEO. He likes to describe it as “a start-up hub where all product, tech, and thought leadership happens.” His team comprises over 150 professionals across technology, product, design, content, and editorial. Earlier this month HT Labs launched its fifth brand Slurrp in the food space under Mudaliar’s leadership.
How Slurrp was founded
Slurrp, with its over three lakh recipes, was born out of the problem that there are a lot of recipes out there but it becomes very difficult to narrow down on that which fits one’s choice of cuisine, health consideration, regional choices, ingredient preferences, and allergy considerations, all at the same time.
“During last year’s lockdowns the number of searches on things as elementary as “how to cook rice in a microwave or how to store vegetables” skyrocketed as people staying home became wary of ordering food online. The struggle to figure out these basics was compounded by the fact that there was no one place to find all related information. That’s when HT Labs decided to solve this problem using AI and launched India’s first recommendation engine for recipes – Slurrp,” shares Mudaliar.
Slurrp’s TG includes all those who ‘live to eat’ and ‘eat to live,’ and therefore, it effectively serves the needs of all interested users across levels of proficiency in cooking. The app is currently being monetised through affiliate shopping models, sponsorships and ads.
The recipe – just the right mix of content and technology
Mudaliar tells us that Slurrp was launched with an equal focus on content and tech wherein apart from collating new and age-old recipes at one place the intent was to build conversations and stories around food. The app takes users on culinary trails charting the history of the most familiar as well as the most exotic of their favourite food and beverages.
There are plans to launch a community feature in the next couple of weeks to provide a platform for chefs, influencers, and enthusiasts to exchange ideas. “Because not all information is documented, and a lot of hacks and interesting trivia – the grandmothers’ secrets – come out only during conversations, this information can later be integrated into the mother app and recipes or conversations with the end-users with the help of AI,” he says.
More features in the offing include an AI-based personal assistant to take people through their cooking journey, enhanced filters, language personalisation, and voice recipes. At present, the app has only textual and video recipes in English.
Some of the uniquely interesting filters that Mudaliar’s team is exploring include those around food combinations and mood-based recipes. “Food and music consumption are very similar in the sense that mood plays a very important role in how a person eats. We are exploring ways to offer personalised recommendations to satisfy these not-easily-definable features,” he states.
Mudaliar’s most important consideration while designing the app was to solve for the barrier of entry by keeping the interface simple. “We didn’t want to change user behaviour or break any paradigms, so we incorporated features such as ‘swipe left, swipe right’ that most people are used to, and further simplified on that. The idea is to make users comfortable, enhance their cooking experience and get them to spend more time on the app by offering easy access to content,” he remarks.
eNews
Piyush Thakur steps down as Inshorts’ chief revenue officer
Former vice president and cro says exit marks a new chapter after close to a decade of building revenue and partnerships at Inshorts Group.
NOIDA: Piyush Thakur has stepped away from Inshorts Group after nearly 10 years with the company, marking the end of a long tenure that culminated in his role as chief revenue officer.
In a farewell note, Thakur said he was “turning a new page” after almost a decade at Inshorts, calling it one of the hardest professional decisions he has made. He added that his exit was not driven by uncertainty about the future, but by reflection on a long association with the company.
Thakur joined Inshorts in October 2016 as vice president and spent around seven years in the role before being elevated to chief revenue officer in April 2024, a position he held until April 2026.
He said his tenure was defined by “thousands of mornings, late nights, product debates and breakthrough moments”, as the company evolved into a large-scale digital news platform used by millions.
In his note, Thakur emphasised that Inshorts’ growth was a collective effort across teams, adding that engineers, designers, sales teams and customer support staff all contributed to building the platform. He said the company’s success was not the result of individuals but of “everyone who stayed, passed through, and left their mark”.
Before Inshorts, Thakur worked across several digital media and business development roles. At ESPN, he served as senior regional manager from October 2015 to October 2016, focusing on growth initiatives, strategic opportunities and video distribution.
At Times Internet, he worked for nearly three years, including as head of business development from April 2015 to September 2015 and chief manager from January 2013 to March 2015. His responsibilities included monetisation of mobile platforms, managing media and developer partnerships, and driving revenue across digital properties such as The Times of India and The Economic Times.
Earlier, he worked at Brandmovers as head of business development from June 2012 to June 2013, handling digital, mobile and social media marketing solutions, client development and strategic consulting. During this period, he also worked on advertising revenue, brand strategy and CRM-based solutions.
At Inshorts, Thakur’s role focused on revenue strategy, mobile and media partnerships, and growth initiatives across platforms. His profile highlights experience in mobile product management, digital business models, partner ecosystems and revenue expansion in high-growth environments.
