Sonam Bhagat - From Private Banker to Newsmaker
Added: (Wed Jun 07 2023)
Pressbox (Press Release) -
A Story of Purpose, Passion, and Perseverance towards Building a Developed India
Sonam Bhagat is the Founder and CEO of Vygr - A Global News Platform Powered by Hyperlocal Citizen Journalists
They say if you can tell a story well, you can move people to do something. And if that something is the effective use of Media to reach information to those who need it, in the way they like to consume it - then it is worth a shot, right?
That’s what Sonam Bhagat thought when she conceptualized Vygr. And today as she stands, 8 months out from its birth, she realises even this far out is just the beginning of what she set out to do.
Sonam wasn't a Journalism and Media native. In fact, she comes from a Banking Business background. She understands numbers, revenue, traditional business models of profitability and growth. But Media was a whole different ball game. Or was it? She thought not.
A name well known in News Media circles today, Sonam decided to quit a 14-year-long career in Business & Private Banking to join a friend’s Media House. The idea was simple - Traditional media was not reaching the attention of the Young Gen of India - who by the way, are 30% of India’s 150 crore population! New media has not taken the transition well - it is fragmented, virality-focused, inconsistent.
There needs to be someone who fuses both ends- Takes over from Traditional Media with a Sustainable Business Model but retains the fun of consuming News the New way.
And Vygr was born! With a purpose to serve the NewGen with Informational content having its thought, form, fashion, dissemination all coming from the needs of this generation. BUT, with a business model of sustainable long-term growth versus cash burn that New Media businesses usually incur. Vygr has an eye on a legacy - which Sonam believed could be achieved only if the business was solidly built.
Her journey to success was anything but ordinary. It was filled with challenges, setbacks, and failures. There were days she felt this couldn't be done. But she treaded on - Her vision clear and her focus steadfast.
Her parents had instilled enough self-belief and confidence in her from a young age to not give up on her vision in a matter of a few setbacks along the way. Her education in Finance and Business too had prepared enough to not be swayed by every little procedural hiccup or delay that came along.
Sonam was a well-respected name in her previous stint as a Private Banker with Anand Rathi Wealth as well. Her 13 years of a single stint with AR Wealth which went from startup to listing during her journey with them, was marked with many professional milestones as well.
From a Business Development Executive to Associate Director - her professional career was a noteworthy story in itself. The skill to build and lead teams of professionals to tangible business deliverables was honed right here.
She felt she had the talent and perhaps even the skill to build a platform that could address the informational needs of the country that were becoming more and more pronounced by the day.
In a bold move, Sonam left her well-set career as an established Private Banker to work with a colleague in the Media industry. This is where she learnt the ropes of building a media business, its terms and terminologies from the ground up. In June of 2022, she had her plans ready for Vygr.
She had her plans drawn out, her tech scope enlisted, and her Go-to-market envisioned. All she needed now was a team who could share her vision and build this with her. As the tech team was building out the two main platforms that Vygr would stand on - The Website and the App - Vygr started to put a younger team in place for their Social media to start off.
One after the other - four platforms were made live - Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. The content was tested out on the socials before the website was launched on Dussehra 2022.
And now it was time for a Senior Team to drive key activities - From Mr Sarosh Irani who comes with over 40 years of experience in leading Operations across a diverse stream of businesses to Mr. Abhishake Das for whom Content, Brands, Design & Copy have pretty much defined his 17-year long career in Media.
And then Mr. Niraj Soneji who came with 17 years of experience in Media and Startups to advise on Fundraising and Strategy for Vygr.
Vygr now had 8 platforms live - The Vygr website, YouTube, Podcasts, and Quora added to the already buzzing list of platforms on this single ecosystem.
With a reputation for producing high-quality content that was both informative, engaging and entertaining, it was now time to focus on business. Vygr started Two key lines of revenue - The 5 Brand Segments on Vygr called Founder Life, Brand Story, Product Unboxing, Service Rewiews and Event Listing being one of them. And the second one being the IAmPower Program - An Extended services arm of Vygr that supports young businesses with tangible services like Branding, Promotions, PR, Digital Outreach and Social Engagement.
There are no direct competitors for Vygr, right now. In the New Media space though brands like Daily Hunt, Josh, Chingari, Inshorts, Public, Way2news, operate in direct or indirect segments, but none of them predominantly targets NewGen with an entire informational ecosystem. Not one, not two platforms, but an entire ecosystem!
And 3 of the 8 planned revenue streams started trickling in!
8 platforms and a revenue model to boot - you would think this is good enough for 6 months, right? Wrong!
Vygr had two more aces to place on the table - The Vygr App being one of them! This was the hero platform. The whole embodiment of everything that Vygr stands for-
Informative yet entertaining in-house content
Brilliant images, exciting quick short format of news narrations so that staying informed is now fun too
Free to use so no user ever has to pay to be informed
Hyperlocal content - News, Rewards, Ads - everything down to the reader’s geolocation expandable from Hyperlocal to Superglobal with a simple toggle button
Prosumer democratic new media that empowers the reader to upload their own content - be it in any form - Video, Blogs, Text, Headline, Audio, Photo, Podcast, Webinar, anything!
Gamified reading so that the newsreader finds the activity of staying informed rewarding as well
Multiple languages of content so that most readers in the country can access the news in their native language as well as on a global scale
Personalized reading for those who know what they want to stay informed about
23 categories of News so that no one ever feels the FOMO on anything
Ads and branded content pieces interwoven within the content effectively so that the business stays profitable yet non-intrusive to the reader
And then there was the second - Physical presences pan India! Vygr was now looking at going across the length and breadth of the nation with presences on-ground. THE ONLY PAN INDIA TECH-BASED DIGITAL NEWS MEDIA PLATFORM TO DO SO. TRUE Hyperlocal in every sense of the word. - Revenue, Content, Initiatives. The plan is to capitalize on its presences in Maharashtra and Goa and replicate the success in 2 states across 3 more in the next few weeks - Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Vygr aims to be present in 14 cities across these 5 states in the next 3 months and in 7 states by December.
Looking back at all those times she was told this wasn't possible or that perhaps this was an impossible dream, Sonam knows that leaving her comfort zone and rising to the cause of Vygr was the best decision she ever made. It was almost as if she didn't hear the words - ‘Can't be done.’
And her team believed in their collective strength at all times - pulling through the last-minute challenges thrown at them with surprising elan!
Sonam's story is an inspiration to those who believe - Her story shows that with passion, determination, and a little bit of luck, anyone can achieve greatness. The team at Vygr is proud of what they have achieved but not satisfied. They know they have only just begun and now that they are FULLY CHARGED with all their platforms live and the business turning in revenues, Vygr is poised to become the New Face of New Media soon enough.