VerSe, Parent Company of Dailyhunt, Sees Its Valuation Drop by 42% to $2.9 Billion, According to Investor Memo

VerSe, the Indian technology and media enterprise behind the renowned news aggregator Dailyhunt, is now valued approximately 42% lower than its previous private valuation, as per investor 360 One’s analysis.

June updates sent to investors by wealth and asset manager 360 One put VerSe’s worth at $2.9 billion, revealed in an internal document TechCrunch had access to.

The Bangalore-based company, supported by investors such as the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, CPP Investments, Goldman Sachs, Google, Sofina, and Peak XV, was previously valued near $5 billion during its April 2022 funding campaign that raised $805 million.

360 One, in its investor briefing, also noted an increase in the valuation of NSE, India’s largest stock exchange, to $29.9 billion, as TechCrunch outlined in earlier reports.

Requests for comments from 360 One and VerSe were not responded to.

This revaluation downward is in step with a broader trend where investors are revising their startup investments’ valuations downwards. For instance, investment firm Fidelity has devalued its shares in companies like X, Gupshup, and Discord.

On Friday, Fidelity updated that it now assesses its investment in X, previously known as Twitter, at merely 27.94% of the initial valuation. This revaluation puts the Elon Musk-owned social platform, acquired for $44 billion, at $12.3 billion by the end of July. In a similar vein, Fidelity’s valuation of Gupshup, a SaaS company, has plummeted to around $541 million from its 2021 valuation of $1.4 billion.

Despite the valuation dip, VerSe has notably improved its financial position in the past two years after its funding round pegged at a $5 billion valuation. The company’s recent acquisition of digital marketing agency Valueleaf is anticipated to bolster its revenue by an additional $100 million.

The 360 One investor brief further assessed several other portfolio companies. It appraised food delivery service Swiggy at $11.5 billion, a rise from its last early 2022 private funding valuation of $10.7 billion. Payment platform Pine Labs was given a $4 billion valuation, while online meat and seafood provider Licious was estimated at $900 million. Educational technology firm upGrad was valued at $1.9 billion, TechCrunch also reported previously.