Introducing Dekkho, India’s first social video network for all your entertainment content!

Set to become the entertainment platform of choice with features like offline viewing, low internet consumption, enhanced user experience, regional/international content, and exclusive content launches 

by Shrutee K/DNS

Mumbai, December 21, 2016: Dekkho, a new-age streaming platform, is all set to offer a viewing experience that is uncluttered and curated, has high-quality content sourced from leading content providers from India and abroad, consumes less internet bandwidth, offline viewing facility, offers exclusive access to new content, and – above all – is free.  Established in March 2016, Dekkho is the brainchild of Tanay Desai and Vinay Pillai. Dekkho has already managed to raise $1.2 million from seven marquee angel investors in one of the largest seed funding rounds in India.  

About 65% of today's digital audience is viewing content that is snackable, delivered for mobile-format under 20 minutes per video. With Dekkho, the aim is to capture this segment aggressively and also allows its users to discover, view, share, and recommend high-quality, premium content close to their hearts across genres such as music, comedy, fashion, food, travel, and lifestyle. Additionally, Dekkho has a unique ‘window concept’, which enables exclusively premiered music videos, trailers, and snippets from major blockbuster films and popular international artists on its platform for a duration of 48 hours to 7 days before any other platform. This literally makes Dekkho the ‘Friday first day, first show’ of the Internet for Indian viewers! 

Speaking on the launch, Tanay Desai, Co-founder, Dekkho, said, “Smartphones have become the first screen for new-age Indian viewers, especially when it comes to fresh entertainment. We are looking to revolutionise the way entertainment is consumed and delivered in India and create India’s first social video network, where users are closely connected to their favourite content creators. Indian consumers are far from paying for online content. We aim to create a sustainable, three-way ecosystem for content producers, advertisers, and users through a free-to-use service. We feel premium consumption will be primarily driven by three key factors – content diversity, user experience, and availability before anywhere else. Moreover, users will no longer have to find a compromise between quality and affordability with the launch of Dekkho.”

Dekkho currently has over 12,000 hours of programming, which is made available by partnering directly with top digital channels such as Sony Music, Being Indian, Zee Music, Blush, Miss Malini, Times Group, ScoopWhoop, AIB, East India Comedy and Culture Machine. Content from national and international artists such as Coldplay, Beyonce, Badshah, Papon, Arjun Kanungo, Micheal Jackson, Sia and Chain Smokers is also available on the platform, as is regional content in six Indian languages. By making such a diverse content catalogue available for free, Dekkho gives its users an opportunity to enjoy entertainment across the board without worrying about the costs of multiple OTT subscriptions.

“Content producers will eventually have to rely on a third party aggregator with stronger technology expertise. With a strong focus on young Indian viewers and their entertainment requirements, Dekkho will be the perfect platform for content developers to deliver their content to their target audiences. Through our team’s extensive global OTT experience, we understand the pulse of a young Indian viewing audience. This makes us confident that we will soon become the default destination for all online video-based Indian entertainment content across Android, iOS, and web platforms,” adds Vinay Pillai, Co-founder, Dekkho.

Dekkho already reaches out to 2 million social media users on a monthly basis prior to launch. It has partnerships with several premium content developers who benefit from greater discoverability, better monetisation, and cost-saving on tech investments enabled by it. Strategic partnerships with brands such as Paytm, Mobikwik, Lava, LeEco, and Micromax allow Dekkho to extend its diverse array of rich entertainment content to users in its partner ecosystems. The long-term vision is to create a video streaming culture through adaptive transcoding and subsidised data tariffs with multiple telecom service providers over the next five years.