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Rajesh Sawhney to launch start-up accelerator next month
MUMBAI: After spending more than a decade in the media & entertainment sector, Rajesh Sawhney has launched GSF Accelerator, an initiative to give startups in the digital domain a push.
Set to launch next month, GSF Accelerator will provide 12 start-ups in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore with personalised mentoring, access to funding and business networks, and initial capital.
Sawhney, who was earlier the president of Reliance Entertainment, has founded GSF Superangels, a network of 30 digital founders and investors. The key advisors to GSF include global mobile platform InMobi CEO, founder Naveen Tewari, Venture fund Matrix Partners founder Avnish Bajaj, Index Ventures partner, co-founder of TAG and Seedcamp Saul Klein and Dave McClure, founder of 500 startups, a leading early stage investor in the Silicon Valley.
“GSF Accelerator program is built around three unique values: intensity of mentorship, deep collaboration with the ecosystem, and creation of a global springboard for the next generation of Indian start-ups. This program is designed to create the next wave of product-oriented technology start-ups in the areas of mobile, social, local and cloud. There is no reason that Indian entrepreneurs cannot create the next Instagram, or the next twitter, or the next InMobi,” explains Sawhney.
The veteran media executive said that 12 start-ups will receive initial funding from GSF this year to begin with. The 12 start-ups will also be showcased at the GSF 2012 (The Second Global Superangels Forum) on from 26-27 November, where 400 leading early stage investors from across the world will meet start-ups.
The programme will run simultaneously in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore during October-November, 2012, with each location hosting four start-ups. Coaching will be provided to each of the 12 GSF start-ups over seven weeks by a mentor pool of over 200 leading co-founders and digital masterminds from across the world. The GSF accelerator start-ups will attend 25 intensive and proprietary workshops conducted by global experts.
A total of 30 founders are funding GSF Superangels and GSF Accelerator. Indian funds such as Kae Capital and Blume Venture have also partnered with GSF Accelerator.
GSF has entered into key strategic partnerships to provide a global springboard for these start-ups. “GSF has tied up with 500 renowned start-ups by Dave McClure to provide access to its Silicon Valley networks. Similarly, the leading European accelerator and mentorship platform, Seedcamp will provide deep access to the GSF start-ups in Europe,” says Sawhney.
“Similarly, GSF is proud to announce its tie-up with Singapore-based fund Ruvento. This relationship with Ruvento will create a cross-border fertilisation of businesses and capital between India, Singapore and Russia.”
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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.
