Anthill Ventures, an investment and scaling platform for early-stage startups, today announced that its accelerator program Anthill Studio has strategically partnered with Viacom18. This partnership will enable Anthill Studio to provide additional market-access opportunities to the startups of Anthill Studio.
Anthill Studio, which is a partnership with film production and distribution company, Suresh Productions, is an accelerator program focused on technology startups in the Media and Entertainment space. Anthill Studio is located at Anthill’s headquarters in T-Hub in Hyderabad.
The program will scout for startups building products for Media & Entertainment industry using technologies such as AI/ML, AR/VR, IoT, Big Data, Blockchain and others. The areas of focus include filmed entertainment, TV, gaming and digital media industries.
“Viacom18 has emerged as a prominent entertainment network and is a key enabler of sustained innovation & thought leadership. For our program, Anthill Studio, Viacom18 will act as a catalyst to create the desired ecosystem for startups by providing easy access to the media & entertainment market” said Prasad Vanga, Founder & CEO, Anthill Ventures.
Viacom18 is one of the biggest media networks in India and is committed to nurturing the Indian startups. With that intent, Viacom18 launched a dedicated Startup Engagement Program, VStEP, in October last year.
Viacom18, through VStEP, as a Market-access partner will be providing startups with business & technology mentorship, along with an opportunity to scale by collaborating with them on prototypes, strategic partnerships and other commercial opportunities.
“Our partnership with Anthill Ventures, will bring disruptive innovations to media businesses. We are looking at tech innovations especially in the areas of AI, ML, Automation for our TV, Films and digital business”, said Achint Setia, Senior Vice President, Viacom18 Digital Ventures and Head, VStEP.
Hyderabad-based Anthill Ventures is a global speed scaling ecosystem for startups with a presence across Singapore, USA and India.
It most recently set up an office in Bengaluru and has invested in over 22 startups. Apart from Media and entertainment, its other areas of focus are Urban infrastructure, Finance and Health.