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BlackArrow ropes in NDS as a strategic investor
MUMBAI: NDS, the digital pay TV technology solutions provider owned by News Corp and Permira Funds, has led a $20 million fund raising for BlackArrow, a worldwide provider of advanced advertising solutions for new television platforms.
NDS has joined BlackArrow as a strategic investor and the two companies have also announced the formation of an alliance to offer an integrated suite of advanced advertising solutions and services.
Apart from NDS, existing investors Cisco Systems, Comcast Interactive Capital, Intel Capital, Mayfield Fund and Polaris Venture Partners have also invested an undisclosed amount in the new financing round.
This financing provides BlackArrow with fresh capital to expand product development and accelerate the deployment of the BlackArrow Advanced Advertising System to programming networks and on-demand television content providers across North American and international markets.
“We have aligned ourselves with partners and investors that not only share BlackArrow‘s vision but also stand behind us by providing a firm financial platform that ensures our ongoing success,” said BlackArrow CEO Dean Denhart. “This investment further solidifies our long-term ability to help operators and programmers monetise on-demand content globally by leveraging the international expertise, footprint and complementary technologies of NDS, while assuring continued traction and execution in the marketplace.”
NDS creates technologies that enable leading pay-TV operators and content providers to generate revenues from digital content on more than 70 pay-TV platforms. NDS‘ security, enabling technologies and interactive applications are deployed on over 100 million devices worldwide – across set-top boxes, PCs and other media devices.
BlackArrow‘s multiplatform campaign management and ad decisioning services align with NDS‘ advanced advertising platform, NDS Dynamic, to measure and engage audiences, thus creating the framework for the alliance.
“The ability to deliver timely, addressable advertising to on-demand audiences presents a major revenue-growth opportunity for operators and programmers worldwide,” said NDS Group chairman and CEO Abe Peled.
As part of its strategic investment, NDS will have a seat on the BlackArrow board of directors.
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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.
