Suppose that you are waiting to take your school bus. You are in a hurry, you have five minutes, and yet you want to know what is the most important news. You are not able to read a long article or watch a long news show. What do you do? You pick up your phone, open a news application and within a few swipes you are up to date.
This was the issue that Inshorts addressed. The application provides you with news in 60 words. It is fast, easy, and simple. The Inshorts application is downloaded today by over 10 million. It receives over 8 billion screen views every month, or its news cards are viewed by people billions of times.
The question is, however, the following: The app is free. You do not spend a rupee to read the news. What is the way that Inshorts makes money? How did it turn into a company worth thousands of crores? This article will describe the entire business inshorts revenue model of Inshorts in a simple language. We will examine its history, its conception and the very source of the funds.
What is Inshorts?
Inshorts is an application that gathers news from numerous websites on the internet. After which a group of editors reads those long articles and converts them into a short, 60 word story. Each story is shown as a card. Swip-up to read the next card, and enjoy a game-like experience. People who are busy and use their phones are the ones that get to know it is news.
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A Short History: The College Project That Got Away.
Inshorts begins not in a huge office but in a college dorm at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). Three students Azhar Iqubal, Anunay Arunav and Deepit Purkayastha got fed up with excessive information in 2013. They believed that news was significant, but it was a book to read. The majority of the news articles were either very long, partisan or opinionated. They desired but the facts, and fast.
They went with a simple concept, which was to provide news in a brief and easy-to-read format. They launched a Facebook page named News in Shorts. They received significant news every day, wrote a brief summary, and pinned it up with a photo.
People liked it. The Facebook page went viral. The page was followed by their friends, their classmates and thousands of strangers shortly. The positive response made them believe in transforming their project into a company. To concentrate on the app, they dropped out of college. Inshorts app was introduced in 2013 and it was one of the most popular news apps in India.
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App Overview: The Swipe through the News.
Inshorts is magic because it is simple. You open the app and you have one news card. It contains a headline, an image, and a 60 words summary. Should you desire further elaboration there is a connection to the entire article. Once you are done, you swipe up and the next card comes up. It’s very easy and addictive. Swipe gesture is what makes people refer to it as the Tinder of News.
The application includes all types of content national news, world news, technology, sports, business, and entertainment. Categories of interest to you can be selected. Gradually the app expanded to having a few thousand Facebook users to having a massive community of millions of active users on the mobile. The primary target is the youth between the ages of 18 and 35 years, students and employees who require fast information.
Inshorts Inc. Products and Services.
Inshorts revenue model has added on to the 60-word news app, which is the primary product. Another app by the name Public App is its greatest success following the main app.
Public App
Public is a 2019 Inshorts app whose description is as follows: Public is about hyperlocal news, news about your neighbourhood, town or small area. Whereas Inshorts reports on national and world news, Public reports on what is going on right beside you. Short films about local events, issues, or celebrations can be recorded and uploaded by people. You may, as an example, watch a video on the subject of water-logging in a street near your place, or the establishment of a new store in your market.
This move was smart. Popularity of the public grew very much among the smaller towns and cities (Tier-2 and Tier-3 areas) where people are more concerned with local happenings than national discourse. Public contains more than 100 million active users.
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Positioning: What Makes It Stand Out in a Flooded Market.
The news market is crowded. The Times of India, Google News and Dailyhunt are some of the big players. This is the way Inshorts competes.
Opposed to Traditional News Websites (such as NDTV, India Today)
Long and detailed articles are available on those websites. Inshorts is not a competitor in that space. Rather it gives brief overviews to individuals who require briefings, not news.
Compared to the Other News Aggregators (such as Google News)
Such applications as Google News provide you with headlines and redirect you to other websites to read the entire story. Inshorts makes you stay within its own app showing a summary therein. This makes it a more comfortable experience.
Compared to Video-First Platforms (such as YouTube)
It is time-consuming to watch a news debate on TV or YouTube. Inshorts is text based and much faster. At the same time you can read ten news stories compared to one news video.
The primary argument of the Inshorts is that the summary should be no longer than 60 words. The fact that it is simple and fast makes it special.
Inshorts Revenue Overview
Now let’s talk about money. The internet business inshorts revenue model that Inshorts employs is a typical one: the one that assumes that unless you are paying to use the app, you are the product. It implies that Inshorts provides free news to attract a large number of users. This in turn sells the attention of these users to advertisers.
Advertising is the primary source of revenue of Inshorts. It is paid to brands to display their adverts to millions of daily users.
Total Revenue Figures
Inshorts revenue model has been increasing revenue gradually. We will examine the figures in recent years. Business reports indicated that:
- FY 2022, revenue was ₹166 crore
- FY 2023, revenue was ₹181 crore
- FY2024: Revenue – ₹181 crore
However, Inshorts is yet to make a profit. Its expenses of its salaries, technology, and advertisements are more than its income. In FY 2023 it lost about ₹310 crores. Most startups that grow fast do it because they use money to acquire new users and develop products in the hope of making profit in the future.
Revenue Trends: A Story of Growth
The trend of the inshorts revenue model is favorable. The business model is demonstrated by the sales that are increasing year after year. There are more brands that would like to pay to advertise on Inshorts and in its sister application, Public.
The success of Public app increases revenues. It has created a new business: local advertising. Public can be used to advertise small businesses in small towns to their local customers. This hyper local model is the one that spurs big growth.
Inshorts Net Worth
As of 2025, Inshorts holds an estimated valuation of $550 million (₹3,700 crore). In FY24, the company generated ₹181 crore in operating revenue and saw its net loss improve by 26%, narrowing to ₹228 crore.
The valuation or net worth is the cost of the entire company. It values the company in terms of its growth, income and potential.
Estimated Valuation
Inshorts has had the last large round of funding in 2021. It was worth 550 million in that round, which is approximately 3700 crores in rupees. That is why it is one of the best media tech startups in India.
The high valuation demonstrates the faith of investors in the future of Inshorts. They are certain that it will increase its users and become profitable eventually.
Comparison with Competitors
Is it a valuation that is comparable to other news space valuations?
- Dailyhunt is owned by VerSe Innovation that is valued at 5 billion dollars. It also has a massive and diversified user base by owning a short-video application similar to Tik Tok called Josh.
- The Times of India Group has newspapers, television, radio, and online properties. It is much bigger and has much more revenue, but it operates on a more traditional business model, hence it is difficult to compare it to Inshorts.
The valuation of Inshorts revenue model is amazing since a product that is entirely digital and mobile first makes it so.
Factors Affecting Net Worth
The valuation of a company is not a set figure but it may increase or decrease depending on a number of things:
- Funding rounds: in the process of raising money, a startup sells a portion of the company, at a fixed price, increasing its valuation. The more finances are provided, the greater is the net worth.
- Established investors: Tiger Global is one of the large investors in Inshorts. Their endorsement will be credible and will enhance the value of the company.
- Increase in the number of users: the more people use the app, the more it becomes appealing to advertisers and this is an indication of increased value.
- Revenue growth: a firm that is growing its sales is considered to be highly valued. The consistent increase in revenues of Inshorts is one of the reasons why it is highly valued.
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Inshorts Business Model Explained
The Inshorts revenue model is not difficult to decompose. It is a brilliant mechanism that is aimed at getting the users in and then indirectly monetizing them.
Business Model: B2C and B2B.
Inshorts is a two-side business:
B2C (Business-to-Consumer): That is the side that we are on. The product, which is short news, is offered to us, the consumers, through Inshorts, at zero cost. This side is aimed at achieving a huge and active user base. The users are the audience in a stadium.
B2B (Business-to-Business): This is the revenue generating side. Inshorts monetizes the audience that it has established and offers the audience to other companies (the advertisers). The advertisers will pay Inshorts to display their message (the ad) to the individuals in the stadium.
It is a traditional inshorts revenue model of the media, only with a digital twist. It works the same as free television channels or radio stations. The performances are complimentary, with their profits coming through commercials in between.
Key Revenue Streams Breakdown
Then what type of advertisements does Inshorts present? They have a wide range of formats, the majority of which are created in such a way that they do not seem annoying and do not stand out among the usual news items.
- Native Advertising: This is the largest source of their revenue. A native advertisement is one that is formatted in a way that it appears and seems to be a part of the normal contents of the app. On Inshorts, a native advert resembles one of the regular 60-word news cards. It will consist of a headline, a photo and a brief idea. It will only include a small label that will indicate sponsored or in partnership with.
- Video Ads: You can see a video ad (5-10 seconds long), which may automatically play as you swipe across news cards. They are commonly applied by companies that promote a new product, such as a smartphone or a car.
- Banner Ads: These are the small, rectangular advertisements, which you can find at the bottom of the screen. They are more conventional digital advertising.
- Interstitial Ads: These are full screen advertisements that appear in between actions such as when you first open the app.
User Engagements & Marketing Plan
Such a inshorts revenue model can only succeed in case users continue to visit the app on a daily basis. Inshorts is an expert in user engagement.
- The Habit-Forming Product: The 60-word format and the uncomplicated swipe action are so convenient that people check Inshorts every day like they do WhatsApp or Instagram in the morning.
- Push Notifications: Inshorts also sends notifications when a news or an important event occurs. They exercise this feature with caution so that they can be able to offer real value and not to spam the users. Timely notification can make thousands of users rejoin the app immediately.
- Customization: The application also has a My Feed option that learns what type of news you prefer reading. You will begin seeing more tech news in case you read a lot about technology. This increases the relevancy of the experience to each user.
- Word-of-Mouth Marketing: Inshorts have not incurred much expenditure in traditional marketing. Word-of-mouth has contributed to its growth. Having discovered a cool and useful app, people just inform their friends and relatives about it. People could easily recommend Inshorts because of the simple and unique idea behind it.
Competitive Advantage
Why will another company not simply copy the idea of Inshorts? Inshorts has developed a good moat or competitive advantage of its business.
- Strong Brand Name: The concept of short news among many youths in India is attached to the brand Inshorts. It is now the preferred application to use in this service.
- Big and Loyal User Base: A huge number of active users (millions of them) is a massive strength. The advertisers desire to reach where the audience is and Inshorts has a huge audience.
- Data Advantage: Inshorts has accumulated an enormous volume of data over the years on the type of news that millions of Indians are reading. This information is invaluable. It assists them to customize the news feed to the users as well as to provide brands with a very narrow-focused advertising. Indicatively, they can assist a sports shoe company to display advertisements to people who read sports news regularly.
How Inshorts generates revenue (Deep Dive into the revenue model)
It is time to go into greater detail about how exactly Inshorts revenue model monetizes its platform. The main concept is to blend ads in the reading process of the user.
Advertising Revenue: The Business Powerhouse.
As we have already determined, the driving force of Inshorts is ads. However, the company is very clever with the kind of advertisement that it sells. It primarily specializes in native advertising that is very effective.
Native Ad Campaign example:
Consider the case of a company such as Amazon Prime Video which wants to market a new web series. They have the option of collaboration with Inshorts. They can make a sponsored news card instead of a shocking banner ad which reads:
- Headline: “New Crime Thriller Series becomes a Must-Watch This Weekend.
- Body (60 words): A brief synopsis of the content of the show, the actors and why people are loving the show. It would be written in the same factual manner as an ordinary news story.
- Text: A poster of the web series.
- Call to Action: A button with the text Watch Now on Prime Video.
This does not give the impression of an advertisement; it is rather an entertainment news. It is more likely to be read and interacted with by the users. Due to the effectiveness of such ads, Inshorts can sell them at a high price. The brands of every industry e-commerce (Flipkart, Amazon), telecom (Airtel, Jio), smartphones (Samsung, OnePlus), and FMCG (Nestle, HUL) continuously promote on Inshorts.
The Role of Video and Interstitial Ads:
Although the primary one is the native ads, short video ads are also of great significance. They allow brands to demonstrate their product functionality. An example is a car company can display a 6-second video of its new car moving on a beautiful road. Big campaigns like the “Big Billion Days” sale feature full-screen ads when a brand would like to capture the full attention of the user at some point.
Partnerships and Sponsored Stories.
Another way Inshorts revenue model collaborates with brands is to do whole content campaigns, and not individual advertisements. This is a deeper partnership.
As an example, a bank like HDFC may desire to educate the youth on money. They might collaborate with Inshorts to create a 5-part series of sponsored cards on:
- 5 Simple Steps to Create Your First Budget.
- “What is a Mutual Fund? Explained in 60 Words”
- The article is called Why You Should Start Saving in Your 20s.
These are not just ads. They provide valuable content to the users under brand sponsorship. They assist the brand to gain credibility and demonstrate competence. Such campaigns provide Inshorts with a great source of revenue, which is of a high-margin.
Investor Insights and Funding
A startup is like a plant. It requires water and sunlight to thrive and in the case of a startup, this means money by investors. Inshorts has been very successful in attracting the money of the best investors.
Funding History: The History of Development.
Inshorts has been funded to the tune of approximately 119 million in various funding rounds.
- Seed round (2014): During its initial years it received a small seed rounding by Times Internet and accelerator TLabs. That assisted founders in the start-up of the company.
- Series A ($4 million, 2015): It was their first significant round, headed by US investor Tiger Global. It was a large vote of confidence.
- Series B (20 million, 2015): Tiger Global invested once again, which was a sign of confidence only a few months later. The funds were spent on upgrading technology and employing additional editors.
- The company’s most recent funding round occurred in July 2021, when it raised $60 million led by Vy Capital, bringing its total funding to $165 million across seven rounds
The Effect of Funding on Growth and Valuation.
Every round of funding provided the company with an impetus. The money was used for:
- The development of tech: developing a better app, developing AI to customize the news feed, and ensuring that the app was capable of supporting millions of users.
- Growing the team: recruiting a large number of content writers, editors, engineers, and sales team.
- Diversification of products: the funds were used to construct and introduce the Public app, which is currently a significant component of the company.
The company was able to raise additional funds at a higher price in future rounds as it was able to raise more money as the company was successful.
Inshorts -Mergers and Acquisitions.
Inshorts acquired a small company, Betaglide, in 2015. Betaglide enabled the app developers to observe what the users do within the application, which functions they utilize the most, and the reasons they cease using the application.
Inshorts acquired technology and expertise to understand its user data by acquiring Betaglide. This assisted in enhancing user retention- ensuring that the users continue to visit- and develop a more interactive product.
Final Words
Inshorts revenue model was founded with an aim of addressing a widespread issue, that is, we do not have time to read long news articles. It provides 60 word summaries and that is a promise that has earned the company a lot of loyal users. Their experience demonstrates that even a simple idea can prove to be effective when implemented properly.
It has a classic digital money making business model. They created a platform that people love and then made money through displaying intelligent and unobtrusive advertisements. Inshorts started to be more than a news summary application as its hyperlocal platform Public started to gain momentum. It has now become a powerful media-tech company with numerous opportunities to develop.
FAQs
1. So what is the business model of Inshorts?
Advertisements are the primary source of revenue at Inshorts. It displays advertisements in the form of sponsored stories, videos and banner advertising to its millions of users and brands advertise there.
2. Who owns Inshorts?
Inshorts is privately owned. It is owned by its founders Azhar Iqubal, Anunay Arunav, and Deepit Purkayastha, as well as by big investors such as Tiger Global, Vy Capital, and A91 Partners.
3. Is Inshorts an Indian business?
Yes, Inshorts is a company based in India. It was initiated in India by Indian founders and it has its headquarters in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
4. How does the Inshorts app differ with the Public app?
Inshorts application provides national and international news of 60 words. Public app, which is also owned by Inshorts, is a hyperlocal video app that allows people to view and share short videos about the news and events that happen in their local city or neighbourhood.
