In July this year, Inc42 wrote about the struggles of short video platform Josh and the challenges faced by its parent VerSe Innovation in scaling up revenue and improving its bottom line. However, VerSe, which is also the parent of news aggregator DailyHunt, seems to have figured a way out — acquisitions and adtech offerings.

Earlier this week, the company announced its newest acquisition – Bengaluru-based adtech company Valueleaf Services. With this, VerSe is looking to bolster its digital advertising and marketing verticals.

While VerSe didn’t disclose the acquisition cost, sources told Inc42 that it spent $150 Mn – $200 Mn for the acquisition.

The announcement came on the heels of VerSe launching NexVerse.ai to provide AI-based solutions for brands and advertisers through performance marketing tools.

Explaining the company’s strategy, VerSe CEO and cofounder Umang Bedi told Inc42 that it is aiming to build Bharat’s biggest ad exchange which will use performance marketing strategy to provide better returns on investments to advertisers.

This is part of VerSe’s plans to diversify its revenue sources. As part of this, the company announced acquisition of news subscription platform Magzter earlier this year. Bedi said that Magzter now has 1.1 Mn paid subscribers.

Talking about the acquisition of Valueleaf, the CEO said that the company has been working with advertisers and brands for the last 15 years. Valueleaf has access........

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