Airtel invests in Juggernaut as part of digital strategy

airtel-4g-in-rural-indiaIndian telecom service provider Bharti Airtel acquired a strategic stake in Juggernaut Books, a digital platform to discover and read affordable books and to submit amateur writing.

Airtel, the number one telecom operator with 2G, 3G and 4G presence, did not disclose financial details of the investment.

The investment is in line with Airtel’s strategy to bring digital content to its wireless customers across India.

Juggernaut will utilize the investment from Airtel to enhance content acquisition, digital marketing and prepare for a subscription offering launch in the next few months.

“Juggernaut is an exciting digital platform and complements our content vision. We look forward to working with them and supporting the next phase of their growth journey,” said Badal Bagri, chief financial officer of Bharti Airtel.

Chiki Sarkar is the the founder and publisher of Juggernaut Books, while Simran Khara is the CEO.

Juggernaut’s former investors include Infosys co-founder and current chairman, Nandan Nilekani and Boston Consulting Group India CEO Neeraj Aggarwal.

Launched in April 2016, the platform has close to 1 million downloads across android and ioS. The writer’s platform in the past six months has received just under 500 stories with 9 of them securing publishing contracts.