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Online music channel BalconyTV gets PE funding, former MTV head joins as advisor
MUMBAI: Global online music video channel, BalconyTV–Music With A View,has announced its first institutional funding from Polaris Venture Partners, Lerer Ventures and Greycroft Partners.
Former MTV US CEO Judy McGrath will also join the channel in an advisory role. “Being a music fan, I love how BalconyTV has grown in such an underground way. I‘m excited to see how far they can go,” McGrath said.
BalconyTV was founded by three Dublin friends who began filming daily performances of new and upcoming artists from their apartmentbalcony. The concept soon caught on and today BalconyTV is produced in over 30 cities around the world and has more than 7,000 videos archived that have been viewed over 30 million times.
Artists that have performed on BalconyTV include international chart toppers Mumford and Sons, The Script and Jessie J.
Polaris venture partner Noel Ruane said, “BalconyTV stood out on several fronts. Here is a concept that is not only unique, but already has a very real footprint around the world and is growing completely organically.”
Last year, BalconyTV was one of 10 companies that pitched at the Copenhagen Demo-Day of Startup Bootcamp – the European affiliate of Techstars.
BalconyTV co-Founder, CEO Stephen O‘Regan said, “Up until now, we‘ve had the passion of our producers, and the love of the artists who have performed. But not unlike busking on the streets, it‘s been all hustle. I‘ve always felt that emerging bands deserved a truly independent, engaging and most importantly artist-centric platform to showcase their talent to the world. BalconyTV does that. It‘s resonated with artists from Sydney to LA to New York to Seoul. Since joining @dogpatchlabs Europe, we‘ve added more cities. Now with our new support band – Polaris, Lerer, Judy and Greycroft – we‘re aiming to play to many more fans around the world.”
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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.
