India's NV Capital to raise Dh246m from NRIs in the UAE

Dubai - The credit fund will also raise money from High Net Worth Individuals living abroad to invest in the media sector.

India's NV Capital plans to tap non-resident Indians (NRIs), high net worth individuals (HNWIs), family offices and financial institutions in the UAE to raise Dh246 million ($67 million).

NV Capital will be India's first credit fund focused on the media and entertainment sector to invest in content creators, over-the-top (OTT) media platforms, gaming and entertainment start-ups.

The fund has received approval from the Indian regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) as Category II Alternative Investment Fund.

The value of multimedia content has been growing exponentially in India as over 1,500 movies are released every year. Also, there has been a rise of multiple OTT monetisation platforms over the past couple of years.

The fund is sponsored by Jayantilal Gada, chairman and managing director of Pen Studios. Gada, who has produced numerous movies, is currently producing and distributing projects which include SS Rajamouli's "RRR", S Shankar's Hindi remake "Anniyan", and Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Gangubai Kathiawadi", all in multiple languages.

"Given the rise of UAE as a preferred destination for global Foreign portfolio investments, it is eminent for the country to become the gateway of new-age sectoral funding to countries like India," said Vivek Menon, co-founder and managing partner, NV Capital.

"At the same time, owing to cultural similarities, a large expat population of Indian origin and sustained tie-ups with Indian media and entertainment industry, UAE remains a key market for garnering funds."

"The last 10-15 years has witnessed meteoric growth in this alternative asset class with the support of ancillary revenue monetisation platforms like broadcasting, music amongst others, and now the recent OTT phenomenon. The investment in programming by media houses in OTT more than doubled from $260 million in 2017 to $700 million in 2020," said Nitin Menon, co-founder and managing partner, NV Capital.

"Furthermore, with the recent Amazon-MGM and the Warner-Discovery deal, the war for content manufacturing is getting bigger globally, and India would be a recipient of these content spends as the next big market."

• Dubai