iWorld
POPxo bullish on growing business via regional content in India
MUMBAI: POPxo, the digital community for women launches in Marathi, Bangla, Tamil, and Telugu. Each language vertical will have a dedicated team of writers and editors creating female-focused original content (text, video and social). The move is part of POPxo’s strategy to expand their user-base by addressing new audience groups to further strengthen reach and engagement.
POPxo founder and CEO Priyanka Gill, “The next wave of users who come online will be accessing the internet in their native language. There is a massive supply-demand gap for female-focused regional language content. The launch of the POPxo platform in four more languages will address this exciting opportunity and power the next stage of growth for the company.”
It (English and Hindi) has over 39 million MAUs (monthly active users) across all platforms. Every month, the team creates 1500 stories, 80 videos resulting in users spending over 3 million hours consuming POPxo content.
POPxo head of content Ruchira Bose said, “Expanding our language portfolio is key in maintaining a strong growth trajectory for POPxo. Our current data-driven content model is scalable. We will use our learnings in English and Hindi to create and distribute relatable content to our new user groups,”
The company has raised a total of $12m in funding to date. The last investment round was led by Neoplux and OPPO, with participation from existing investors Kalaari Capital, Chiratae Ventures, Summit Media, and GREE Ventures. POPxo launched private label commerce in July 2018.
Gaming
Formula 1 and Mumbai Falcons launch India’s first official F1 sim racing championship
Nationwide competition creates pathway from virtual racing to pro motorsport
MUMBAI: Formula 1 has teamed up with Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited to launch India’s first officially sanctioned F1 sim racing competition, marking a new step in the country’s growing motorsport ecosystem.
The championship, titled F1 Sim Racing India Open 2026, will offer a structured national platform for sim racers, with participants competing on the official F1 25 across multiple stages. The competition will begin with online qualifiers, followed by city-based simulator rounds, before culminating in a national final in Mumbai this November.
Open to players across PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox, registrations for the event will begin on 30 April via the Mumbai Falcons app. The format mirrors real-world racing, featuring official circuits, team liveries and competitive structures aligned with the global series.
Formula 1 driver Narain Karthikeyan said the initiative arrives at a time when interest in the sport is surging in India, adding that a structured sim racing platform could help identify and nurture the next generation of talent.
Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited managing director Ameet Gadhoke noted that the championship aligns with the team’s long-term goal of building a strong motorsport pipeline in the country and placing Indian talent on the global stage.
The launch also reflects broader momentum in esports, especially after its recognition under India’s Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025. By bridging gaming and real-world racing, the initiative aims to offer aspiring drivers a credible entry point into professional motorsport.
With interest in Formula 1 steadily rising and conversations around its return to India gaining pace, the new championship could become a proving ground for future racing stars.
