GECs
Building on India’s startup revolution, Viacom18 completes first class of itspioneering start-up engagement program VStEP
MUMBAI: Viacom18, India’s fastest growing Media & Entertainment company, yesterday conferred graduation certificates to five start-ups who were a part of the VStEP program. True to its brand promise of Open New Worlds, Viacom18 has been engaging with start-ups to build a culture of inclusive innovation. A pioneering initiative in India’s Media & Entertainment space, VStEP is a startup engagement programme that creates an opportunity for start-ups to pilot technology-based solutions to business problems. The five start-ups that were a part of the first class of VStEP are TESSACT, Karza Technologies, Entropik Technologies, Firmwayand vPhrase.
Working in close collaboration with business units across the Viacom18 network, the VStEP startups have developed solutions that are relevant to both media and non-media companies. The first class of VStEP has been onboarded in partnership with Zone Startups India, a global brand of technology accelerators and early stage venture funds, operated by Toronto-based Ryerson Futures Inc.
Speaking about the VStEP initiative, Achint Setia, Senior Vice President-Viacom18 Digital Ventures and Head- VStEPsaid, “At Viacom18, we propel ourselves on the back of innovation concurrent to our brand promise of Open New Worlds. Engaging with startups through VStEP has been an enriching experience as the initiative has brought solutions that add business value while at the same time drives a culture of innovation internally as well. Over the last 6 months, our teams have worked closely with the startups on the POCs, perfecting them into solutions that are adoption ready.”
FurtheringViacom18’s commitment in fostering a culture of innovation and engaging with startups, the company recently entered a strategic partnership with Anthill Ventures for an accelerator program called Anthill Studio that will scout for startups building products for Media & Entertainment industry using technologies such as AI/ML, AR/VR, IoT, Big Data, Blockchain and others. The areas of focus include filmed entertainment, TV, gaming and digital media industries.
A brief on the five startups of the VStEP first class and their POCs are:
• Tessact- Enabling Indian M&E players auto index their content library and enabled for contextual search on a single cognitive platform built.The platform comes with applications for contextual search, S&P compliance review, Social feed moderation, Subtitle QC/Edit, Ad detection in live stream and other useful scenarios built specifically for Indian M&E Industry using customized deep learning models.
• Karza Technologies-The platform assists corporates to onboard vendors/ partners by automatically fetching company details, registration details (GST, PAN, etc), e-court searches, defaulter searches, etc along with a due-diligence report (Karza Scan), providing insights about existing consumers for a group. The Karza platform enables holistic view of a network and the negativity around it using public data sources.
• Entropik Technologies- An Emotion Intelligence platform for Media/ Brands that tracks users’ emotions as they experience any media/content on a sec by sec basis. The platform uses Brainwave Mapping & Facial Gesture Recognition to track data points like (Attention, Appreciation, Mental Effort, Activation Level, Emotion Spectrum). This can be useful in video/ audio optimization, post production editing and brand placement within the content.
• Firmway-Firmway digitizes the entire confirmation process through a web based interface by sending confirmations on the click of a button, including automated follow ups on SMS and emails, online reconciliation platform, direct access of confirmation to auditors and real-time dashboard for all the responses.
• vPhrase-vPhrase helps companies make their reports easy to understand by explaining the insights in words, using AI. The company’s platform, Phrazor, analyses data, derives insights and then communicates those insights, in words, in multiple languages. It automates the work of analysis and communication while also having the capability to personalise narratives for each employee highlighting all important points that need attention.
GECs
Asianet Television Awards 2026 celebrates women power in Malayalam TV
“She is the Colour” theme honours icons as ceremony airs on March 14 and 15 at 7 PM.
MUMBAI: If television lights up living rooms, this year Asianet decided to let women provide the colour. The Asianet Television Awards 2026 turned the spotlight firmly on women empowerment with the theme “She is the Colour”, celebrating the strength, resilience and achievements of women who continue to shape society and the Malayalam entertainment industry.
The ceremony honoured several distinguished personalities whose journeys have left a lasting cultural imprint. Among them was legendary playback singer Vimala Varma, widely recognised as the first Malayalam playback singer. The evening also paid tribute to Padma Shri awardees Devaki Amma and Vimala Menon for their exceptional contributions in their respective fields.
Leading women from the Malayalam film industry were also recognised during the event, including actor Shweta Menon, who currently serves as president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists, and National Award winning actor Surabhi Lakshmi.
The awards ceremony brought together a glittering lineup of actors and industry figures, including Jayasurya, Vijay Babu, Asha Sarath, Lena, Esther Anil, Anumol, Akhila Bhargavan, Sarayu Mohan, Prajod Kalabhavan, Gayathri Suresh, Sabumon Abdusamad, Swasika, Tini Tom, Sijoy Varghese, Kailash, Veena Nandakumar, Sabareesh Varma, Ansiba Hassan and Dinesh Prabhakar. Kishan Kumar, executive vice president Malayalam at JioStar, was also present at the event.
Beyond individual recognitions, the awards celebrated excellence across Malayalam television, acknowledging artists and technicians whose work continues to drive the industry forward.
The evening also offered plenty of spectacle, with elaborate dance performances, stunt acts and comedy skits performed by popular television and film personalities, turning the ceremony into a full fledged entertainment showcase.
Viewers will get to watch the celebrations when the Asianet Television Awards 2026 air on Asianet on March 14 and 15, Saturday and Sunday, from 7 pm onwards, bringing the star studded tribute to homes across Kerala and beyond.
