Applications
Benchmark Systems acquired by KIT digital
MUMBAI: Asian TV system integrator and video asset manager Benchmark Systems is being bought out by Prague-headquartered KIT digital, an on-demand, Internet Protocol (IP)-based video asset management systems provider.
The latter has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the privately held company, which has a strong presence in India through its offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata apart from Singapore (its headquarters), and Beijing. Benchmark services many Indian broadcast clients including ESPN Star, ETV, NDTV, Reliance Mediaworks, Sahara, TV9, and Zee TV. The company is expected to generate revenues of $10 million in the next 12 months.
KIT will be acquiring 100 per cent of Benchmark shares. In return, it has commitments to pay the latter approximately $9.5 million directly (comprising $4.5 million in cash and $5.0 million in KIT digital common stock) plus approximately $1.1 million, to be paid to employees over two years. The transaction also includes corporate performance-based contingent considerations at the first and second anniversary of the transaction. KIT digital expects Benchmark to be immediately accretive on a cash-flow, EBITDA, and net profit basis.
“Benchmark was a choice acquisition for us in a number of ways and one which we have been working on for some time,” said KIT digital‘s chairman & CEO Kaleil Isaza Tuzman. “This acquisition demonstrates our commitment to the Asian markets and our determination to be the leader in video asset management in the Bric markets. It also represents an extension to our existing IPTV systems integration capabilities — which support our larger-scale software implementations with broadcasters and network operators.”
Adds KIT digital president Gavin Campion: “We plan to cross-sell our VX-one video management platform into Benchmark‘s existing client base while leveraging Benchmark‘s on-the-ground presence in South Asia, Southeast Asia and Greater China to expand our business more quickly in the region.”
Benchmark president Ashish Mukherjee gave his point of view: “We have been experiencing first-hand, the shift in Asia from traditional video systems to IP-based technologies. We are excited to be joining the global leader in IP video management and we believe our collective strength will yield exceptional value and benefits for our combined customer base. Given Benchmark management‘s two decades of expanding relationships with content owners and network operators across the region, we think the sales synergies between our companies are powerful.”
“We are also looking forward to collaborating on software development for both IP- and ASI-based video technologies,” added Mukherjee, “combining our companies‘ respective strengths in video and broadcast technologies, and bridging the gap between traditional broadcast and new media for customers in emerging markets. As a combined force, we believe we now offer a global capability in capturing, processing and delivering IP video that is second to none.”
Applications
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.
