iWorld
Our product is DIY, plug-n-play, and is a must-have tool for all content creators, reveals Instoried’s Sharmin Ali
Mumbai: Instoried helps enterprises and individuals create emotionally engaging content thereby improving ROI. Instoried is a deep-tech platform that analyses and optimizes the emotional quotient, tonality and relevance of written content across formats like blogs, articles, social media posts.
Instoried uses a data-driven approach using their proprietary AI driven technology to make real time analysis and suggestions to enhance content to increase engagement and interest for the reader. This leads to more clicks and as a result higher ROI for brands, creating a direct impact on sales and revenues for companies. Instoried uses the principles of neuromarketing to offer smart recommendations to increase or decrease a particular emotion in the content.
The platform helps content writers in e-commerce, news, FMCG, and other verticals to optimise emotions in their marketing content.
The company says that clients can capture the emotions of readers on point, enhance their content and save hours of extra work with the easy-to-adapt platform! Instoried has built deep learning-based natural language processing systems to help optimise content. The aim is to build a highly inclusive workplace for people of all backgrounds and genders who can help it grow.
Indiantelevision.com caught up with Instoried founder & CEO Sharmin Ali to find out more on the company. In her role, she is responsible for driving strategy, leadership and sales. Prior to deep-diving into a technology start-up with Instoried, Ali had founded a media start-up to build India’s own Netflix. Prior to that she was with Mu Sigma, working in sales with Fortune 500 companies in the US.
Ali has been profiled in the Fortune 40 Under 40 list (2022) and also won the best product and best innovation under the startup category by The Economic Times Innotribe Awards in Mumbai in September 2018. She has received an honour from the HRD Ministry of India and COWE Womennovator under Innovation and Entrepreneurship category.
Ali holds a Bachelor’s degree in electronics and communications. Instoried is at the cusp of her love for storytelling and a background in technology.
She is an author of two books, the first one ‘Y.O.U’ that was announced a best-seller by The New Indian Express and the Oxford bookstores. Her second book was titled ‘How I was forced to become a staunch racist’. She has also spoken at various TEDx events and international platforms.
She loves exploring new places, writing, is an avid reader and a foodie at heart.
Excerpts:
On the market gap seen in 2019 when Instoried launched
My experience with various Fortune 500 companies in India and the US made me observe closely and conclude that even large companies and brands are ineffective in communication. These companies make marketing decisions based on how they feel about the content instead of using data to get better results. Here is where I stepped in with Instoried. We started with just an idea to improve written content that would impact the ROI of a brand positively. We started with a web- app that helps optimise the tonality and emotion of the content for writers. Over the last few years, the tool has been imbibed with many new features that have helped improve the quality of life of writers and enabled them to create content that’s original, impactful, and empathetic.
On the game plan that has resulted in over 5 million users and 500+ businesses using Instoried
The game plan was simple: how to improve the content game for our customers? We were looking for a full-stack offering and not just a good-to-have feature. This made our customers engage with us like water. Water is a must-have, whereas juice is a good-to-have. We sell water and so our customers love us. We have interviewed a 1000+ content marketers in the US to understand their challenges and each one talked about productivity and about creating content at scale and at speed. So we built a tool with an end-to-end solution.
On how COVID impacted the business
We were able to identify a huge opportunity in this adversity. When stores were shutting down due to very few footfalls, the only option left for them was to sell online. In order to sell online, one needs to create engaging content, and that’s exactly what we do.
On the company’s USP
We are the world’s fastest-growing content-tech and media-tech startup. Our greatest USP is that our product is DIY, plug-n-play, and is a must-have tool for all content creators. On top of that, we have a tailored, curated content offering called Content360 which is like WPP on steroids! We add the human element on top of a tech product to help our clients create a broad spectrum of content across sectors.
On the business model
We are both B2B and B2C with a monthly and annual subscription model.
On the strategy of selling products to the consumer’s brain
Humans are emotional. Our emotional brain decides and logic never prevails, exactly the reason why we love iPhones over anything else. Similarly, our content needs to exude the right set of emotions that we humans can connect with easily. Our product has both generation and analysis to help writers gauge the effectiveness of their content.
On how deep tech can help brands create emotionally engaging content
Instoried is a deep-tech platform that analyses and optimizes the emotional quotient, tonality, and relevance of written content across multiple formats of blogs, articles, and social media posts. Instoried uses a data-driven approach using their proprietary AI-driven technology to make real-time analysis and suggestions to enhance written content to increase engagement and interest for the reader. Our platform helps content writers, in the SME category, e-commerce, FMCG, MNCs, and others to optimize emotions in their marketing content.
As one creates content, the tool dynamically analyses it using AI and displays the tone and emotion of the text used. When you click on a particular tone or emotion, the tool highlights all the words in your content exuding that particular tone or emotion. Upon hovering the cursor over a particular word, it gives you multiple recommendations that are both semantically and contextually relevant, thereby enhancing the empathy of your content.
We use natural language processing (NLP) to analyse the semantics of content and identify the tone, emotion and impact of the written content. With the help of Instoried, our clients have increased engagement of their blogs and marketing communication by optimising their content’s emotion, tonality and use of impactful text. We help content creators be consistently engaging with the audience.
On recent work done by the company that stands out
We are on our way to profitability in the next six months. I think that’s the most outstanding work we are doing.
On how Content360 will help content writers create better content
Content360 is a full-fledged services/ consulting arm offering end-to-end content services to companies. It will help create content at scale using empathy and focusing on the desired long-term outcome and not just the short-term output. Content360 addresses the limitation of traditional content agencies, digital-first brands, and freelancers who churn out multiple content forms per month, focusing on just the output. Users include startups, SMEs, MNCs, e-commerce sites, D2C websites, content creators, mid-size digital marketing agencies, content agencies, freelance marketers, bloggers, and more.
The process starts with understanding the business goals and objectives of the company, current content strategy, current output, and outcome, and then improving on the goals. As a use-case, the business goal of an e-commerce firm is to generate more revenue from their website channel, after understanding various parameters like – current click through/ conversion rates, best-converting landing pages, tone, emotion, and impact of content. Instoried will advise on the best way to create website content with the best emotion, tone, and words that would result in higher conversions.
On the importance of empathy in content creation
My experience gave me the insight that corporations of all sizes were poor at communicating effectively! They have a tough time building human connections and communicating with empathy to their target audience. They make marketing decisions based on how they feel they should communicate instead of using data to their advantage. Here is where I thought Instoried would be a good product-market fit in the writing arena. Instoried helps large companies make their marketing and communications content more human with a data-driven, scalable, and repeatable approach using AI.
Our tool is an all-inclusive one where we now have a spell check, Grammar check, headline generation, plagiarism checker, panel testing, and tonal & emotional analysis checker. You can check it out at app.instoried.com. We aim to make the concept of ‘adding empathy into content’ a part of daily communication by focusing on mobile devices, both android, and iOS. Since content is a global and day-to-day phenomenon, it’s only commonplace to ensure that we communicate with empathy on every social media platform. The importance of adding empathy cannot be underestimated or overlooked.
On the investments being made by Instoried and fundraising
We have closed a few rounds in the last three years, right now the focus is to get to profitability by March next year and then raise a larger round of funding.
On what brands need to keep in mind when marketing to consumers at a time of layoffs and a possible hard-landing recession next year
Profitability is key. Do whatever it takes to be profitable as companies that are profitable are here to stay.
On using text versus video in brand storytelling
Every video has a text caption to go along with it. Text tags along with every content format. Text is like water which is a must-have with everything one consumes.
On the potential of Linkedin in B2B marketing
I love Linkedin sales navigator for its targeted approach to reaching out to plausible prospects.
On what you expect to see from Twitter under a new owner when it comes to advertising on that platform
I love the idea of charging eight dollars per month for a blue tick. The man is a sheer genius. However, it’s too early to comment on how advertising will be affected under his leadership. I hope to see a startup slab for advertising so that it gets affordable as opposed to standard pricing across all brands.
Gaming
India’s new online gaming rules take effect today, banning money games and creating a regulator
The rules, in force from today, separate e-sports from gambling and impose jail terms and stiff fines on violators
NEW DELHI: India’s online gaming sector woke up this morning to a new reality. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Rules, 2026, came into force today, May 1st, turning a year of legislative intent into enforceable law. The message from New Delhi is blunt: e-sports and social games are welcome; online money games are not.
The rules operationalise the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming (PROG) Act, passed by Parliament in August 2025. Together, they represent the most sweeping regulatory intervention India has made in its booming digital gaming market, one that generated Rs 23,200 crore in 2024 and is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 11 per cent to reach Rs 31,600 crore by 2027. The stakes, in every sense, could not be higher.
A sector out of control
The urgency behind the legislation is not hard to find. An estimated 45 crore Indians have been affected by online money gaming platforms, with losses exceeding Rs 20,000 crore. Addiction, financial ruin, money laundering, and suicides have all been linked to the sector. Seventy-seven per cent of the market’s revenues came from transaction-based games, a figure that made regulators deeply uneasy.
The government’s response, effective as of today, is categorical. Online money games, whether based on chance, skill, or any mix of the two, are banned outright. So is their advertising, promotion, and facilitation. Banks and payment processors are barred from handling related transactions. Unlawful platforms can be blocked under the Information
Technology Act, 2000.
The penalties are designed to sting. Offering or facilitating online money games can attract up to three years in jail and a fine of up to Rs 1 crore, or both. Repeat offenders face a minimum of three years, extendable to five, with fines between Rs 1 crore and Rs 2 crore. Advertising such games carries up to two years in prison and fines of up to Rs 50 lakh, with repeat violations attracting higher penalties still. Cyber cell officers at state and union territory levels, including at police station, district, and commissionerate levels, are empowered to investigate offences.
The new sheriff in town
At the centre of the new framework sits the Online Gaming Authority of India, a digital-first regulator constituted as an attached office of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, headquartered in Delhi. It is chaired by the additional secretary of MeitY and includes joint secretary-level representation from home affairs, finance, information and broadcasting, youth affairs and sports, and law and justice, a deliberately multi-sectoral design built for a complex sector.
The authority’s powers are broad. It will maintain and publish lists of online money games, investigate complaints, issue directions, orders, and codes of practice, hear appeals on user grievances, and coordinate with financial institutions and law enforcement to ensure effective and timely action.
Its decisions on game classification are to be completed within 90 days, a time-bound commitment that industry players have welcomed after years of regulatory ambiguity. Classification can be triggered by the authority acting on its own initiative, by an application from a service provider, or by a notification from the central government. Games will be assessed on objective factors: whether stakes are involved, whether players expect monetary winnings, the revenue model, and whether in-game assets can be monetised outside the game. The outcome is recorded in a determination order specific to the game and provider.
E-sports gets its moment
While the crackdown on money gaming dominates today’s headlines, the rules also carve out a structured path for e-sports and online social games. Registration, required when notified by the central government, applies to all games offered as e-sports and is based on factors including risk to users, scale, financial transactions, and country of origin. A successful application yields a digital certificate of registration with a unique number, valid for up to ten years. Service providers must display registration details, designate a point of contact, comply with data retention requirements, and follow directions on facilitating payments.
Online money games are explicitly ineligible for recognition or registration as e-sports under the National Sports Governance Act, 2025. The separation is deliberate, and the industry has noticed.
Akshat Rathee, co-founder and managing director of NODWIN Gaming, called today’s operationalisation “encouraging,” pointing to publisher-led registration of esports titles and a time-bound determination process as creating “much-needed certainty for all stakeholders.” He added that the “continued emphasis on clearly separating esports from online money gaming is critical in preserving the integrity of competitive gaming as a skill-driven discipline.” He described it as “a proud moment to see official acknowledgement of the broader benefits of responsible esports and gaming, from building confidence, discipline, and teamwork to creating new career pathways for young talent,” and said the framework sets “a strong foundation for the ecosystem to scale in a more structured and globally competitive manner.”
Animesh Agarwal, co-founder and chief executive of S8UL, was equally bullish. “This clarity is critical in unlocking investor confidence and attracting multi-genre brands, while also enabling organisations to take a more long-term view, whether in investing in talent, scaling teams, or building globally competitive formats,” he said, adding that it “strengthens trust among audiences and mainstream stakeholders, positioning esports not just as a sport, but as a fast-growing youth entertainment category in India.”
But Agarwal urged caution on several fronts. There remains limited clarity around financial frameworks, particularly in how esports earnings are treated by banks and financial institutions. A well-defined pathway for the formal recognition or registration of esports teams is still evolving, as are structured player protections. He also called for smoother visa processes for esports athletes competing in international tournaments and for government support in developing infrastructure, including bootcamps, training facilities, and access to high-performance equipment across titles.
Vishal Parekh, chief operating officer of CyberPowerPC India, pointed to downstream effects on education and careers. “With formal recognition and policy backing, colleges and institutions are more likely to take the sector seriously, whether through dedicated esports infrastructure, training programmes, or curriculum integration,” he said, adding that this helps students view gaming as a viable career spanning roles across competitive play, content, game development, and allied industries. He noted that as esports gains prominence in global multi-sport events, the framework strengthens India’s position in international competitive gaming, and called on the ecosystem to provide the right infrastructure and access to high-performance hardware to unlock opportunities in talent development and job creation.
Protecting users, one safeguard at a time
The rules introduce a layered system of user protections calibrated to the risk profile of each game. These include age verification, age gating, time restrictions, parental controls, user reporting tools, counselling support, and fair-play and integrity monitoring. Service providers must disclose their safety features and internal grievance mechanisms when applying for determination or registration.
A two-tier grievance redressal system sits atop these safeguards. Users who are dissatisfied with a platform’s resolution can escalate to the authority within 30 days. The authority aims to dispose of such appeals within a further 30 days. A second appeal lies before the secretary of MeitY, who must also endeavour to resolve matters within 30 days. Enforcement proceedings will be conducted in digital mode wherever possible, with cases targeted for resolution within 90 days from receipt of a complaint.
Penalties under the framework are proportionate, taking into account gain from non-compliance, loss to users, the gravity of the offence, and whether violations are recurring. Mitigation efforts by service providers will also be considered when determining penalties. All penalties imposed under the Act will be credited to the Consolidated Fund of India.
The money follows the rules
For investors and founders, the implications are immediate and significant. Sagar Nair, head of incubation at LVL Zero Incubator, a 100-day sprint designed to accelerate early-stage gaming startups across India, argues that with real-money gaming now prohibited, capital will shift “away from transaction-driven models toward content-led, IP-driven, and global-first gaming businesses.” He acknowledged trade-offs: for operators with exposure to real-money formats, the market becomes more restrictive in the near term. But he argued that by clearly separating esports and non-money gaming from online money gaming, “India is positioning itself as a hub for responsible, creative, and scalable game development.” The opportunity, he said, is “to view India not just as a monetisation-first market, but as a talent, IP, and scale market,” adding that “for founders and investors willing to adapt, this shift could ultimately strengthen India’s position in the global gaming landscape.”
The government frames the wider impact in equally ambitious terms: a boost to India’s creative economy and digital exports, new career pathways for young people, protection for families from predatory platforms, and a stronger voice in global digital governance. India, it argues, offers a model for other countries grappling with the same tensions between gaming’s economic promise and its social risks, one that shows innovation and strong safeguards need not be mutually exclusive.
Whether the framework delivers on those promises will depend on enforcement, always the hardest part. But from today, the architecture is firmly in place: a regulator with teeth, a classification system with deadlines, penalties designed to deter, and a clear dividing line between games that build careers and games that destroy finances. For a sector that has grown fast and governed itself loosely, May 1st, 2026 is the day the free ride ends.
