Interview with Sukhmani Bedi, Founder, And COO, BetterButter

March 7, 2022
Publir Staff
Interviews

Sukhmani Bedi, Founder, and COO of a community-driven cooking platform, BetterButter talks to Publir about the growth of the platform, future plans, and funding plans.

What has been the growth rate of the company?

BetterButter is one of the largest platforms for user-generated content in India. With over 50,000 recipes and videos clocking more than 15 million views per month, the company is seeing an incredible level of engagement from its users.

BetterButter which was launched in 2015 has recently launched user-generated videos enabling homemakers to create studio-quality videos from the comfort of their homes. In just 5 months since launching the feature, BetterButter already added 3000 videos to its app. Videos have been added by homemakers in Hindi and English.

What are the total user base and future plans of the company?

BetterButter has over a million monthly active users across platforms and the goal is to triple this number by the end of 2022. The app and web are currently available in English, Hindi, and Tamil with Marathi and Gujarati launching shortly.

What are the fundraising plans and utilize them to the growth of the company?

The company is currently engaged in the process of closing a series of rounds of funding. The investment will be routed into two initiatives – improving our technical capabilities by re-launching our platform with a new UI and also by investing in our video technology to expand our language base. We are also in the process of undertaking other exciting initiatives for our users such as a voice recognition system through which users can speak out the recipes instead of typing them.

BetterButter is also creating an influencer network called Befluence. The objective is to connect influencers to brands. While our focus will be on food and recipe bloggers, we will also have influencers in other categories such as health and fitness.

What led to the birth of BetterButter?

While being a product marketing manager in the Kitchen Appliances category at Philips, I was fortunate to travel the length and breadth of India and interact with women in their kitchens. This helped me discover the deep passion that Indian women have about cooking, as they perceive it not as a chore but as an activity that brings them tremendous joy and satisfaction. However, there was a lack of an Indian cooking platform. A major gap that my partner and I found was that none of the current platforms solved the two most important problems people faced while cooking- deciding which dish to cook (discovery) and once that decision has been made, deciding which recipe to choose (this depends on the availability of ingredients, cooking method as well how the recipe was rated by fellow cooks). The BetterButter platform is trying to solve these two problems at its core.

What initiatives help users to engage with the platform?

Our platform has been built on the premise of creating a resource that users find informative and engaging while they consume content generated by their peers. With there being such a wealth of resources in Indian households in terms of recipes and dishes, we wanted to make them accessible for everyone. Part of that was enabling this information to emerge in the most engagement and consumption-friendly format. Therefore, we built the only tech platform in the world which allows users to make studio-quality videos in Hindi and English from the comfort of their homes.

The BetterButter app allows users to take short video clips while going about their normal cooking, which is then stitched together by us to create a high-quality video. The company has also built a community of users that shares information and clears doubts related to cooking. Users can ask questions or start cooking discussions, and fellow members of the community can answer their questions in real-time. Further, users can save content offline to consume it at their own convenience and in their kitchens while cooking, with a view to improving the user experience. We have also worked hard to make the platform accessible for new cooks and learners. Recipes can be viewed in an ‘easy mode’ which allows them to see each recipe step, and have it explained via video.

Publir helps Publishers like BetterButter amplify their revenue, would you be keen to explore a collaboration?

We would definitely like to explore this opportunity after we launch our new platform in July-August 2022. With our new UI, we are sure Publir could help us strategically plan our AdStack and help us explore new revenue streams.

It was great connecting with Ms. Bedi, and Publir wishes her and BetterButter all the very best!

If you like reading such intriguing interviews, check out our blog here! We have connected with some of the most popular industry experts across domains in the recent past.

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Digital Monetization Update – March 24, 2022

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Digital Monetization Update – March 17, 2022

1. 4A’s Advising Members To Deal With Unethical Tech Players (DigiDay) The great majority of digital display advertising will be executed next year, accounting for 91% of revenue. That implies audits, as marketers want reassurance that a media dollar spent is a dollar invested in an industry where ‘accountability’ is a near-constant catchphrase from every given conference stage. 2. Pubfinity Has Big Cookieless Plans For In-Game Ads (AdExchanger) Pubfinity Founder and CEO Sam Kaufmann identified an opportunity to support in-game advertising when Microsoft decided to cease its ad monetization SDK for games in its app store in 2020. He decided to create Pubfinity as an SSP for game creators like himself who were unable to monetize their non-cookie-based Windows programs. 3. Google Buys Micro LED Startup Raxium To Make AR Displays (TheInformation) Google has agreed to buy Raxium, a five-year-old startup that creates small light-emitting diodes for screens used in augmented and mixed reality devices. Google intends to possess more of the physical components required to make such gadgets. It has spent more than a decade developing its own headgear, with limited success. 4. Meta Will Add Parental Supervision Features To Instagram (AdAge) Meta has announced additional parental monitoring options on Instagram. The new tools are part of a larger effort to safeguard teens. This pledge came after a whistleblower testified in October that Facebook has placed business over the well-being of its users, particularly teenagers. 5. Google Analytics To Stop Logging IP Addresses (AdExchanger) Google Analytics will undergo significant adjustments. All analytics users will migrate to Google Analytics 4 (GA4), which supports both online and app data collecting and has built-in privacy safeguards, as well as a slew of Google-wide connections, including metrics and capabilities connected to YouTube, Search, and the Google Cloud Platform. 6. Russia Bans Instagram, Taking 80M Users Offline (TheVerge) Russia’s promised ban on Instagram is now into effect, making it unavailable to a majority of the country’s population. The government had announced plans to ban Instagram, in reaction to Meta’s decision to allow Facebook and Instagram users in various countries to call for violence against Russian soldiers during the nation’s invasion of Ukraine. 7. War Makes Social Media An Ethical Minefield (Axios) Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is posing new challenges for social media policymakers, not just in terms of limiting the spread of misinformation, but also in dealing with vivid pictures of bloodshed. War heightens the human need to share powerful photos, but it also leaves users with difficult choices and hazards in the social media desert. 8. Amazon Wins EU Approval For Its $8.45B MGM Deal (Engadget) Amazon won unconditional approval from the European Union for its plan to buy the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie company for $8.45 billion. The EU Commission’s antitrust regulators decided that the firms had low overlap and that the combination would not significantly diminish competition in the theatrical picture and audio-visual content markets.
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Digital Monetization Update – March 10, 2022

1. Amazon Suspends Access To Prime Video For Customers In Russia (Variety) Amazon has joined the growing list of companies that have halted operations in Russia as a result of the country’s aggressive aggression on Ukraine. Given “the ongoing situation in Russia and Ukraine,” the eCommerce giant announced that consumers in Russia would no longer be able to access Prime Video. 2. Gannet Spoofed Advertisers For Nine Months (MediaPost) Gannett, the publisher of USA Today and many other news media sites, gave false information to advertisers for nine months, misrepresenting where billions of adverts were displayed. Advertisers assumed they were purchasing an ad on one Gannett site, but they were actually purchasing space on another. 3. Twitter Adds New Shopping Features Amid Social ECommerce Push (TechCrunch) Twitter is testing a new way to show tweets that link to eCommerce product pages, such as those on a Shopify store. The firm is experimenting with tweets that contain a large “Store” button and incorporate product data right into the tweet itself, including the product name, shop name, and product pricing, using a new Twitter card format. 4. LimeWire To Make Comeback As An NFT Marketplace (Bloomberg) A pair of serial entrepreneurs from Austria have purchased the rights to the defunct music network LimeWire, with ambitions to rebrand it for the next generation of internet users by selling NFTs tied to music, material, and artwork. LimeWire, one of the first web-based music consumption platforms known for illegal downloads, was shut down in 2010. 5. Twitter To Launch Tor Service For More Secure & Private Tweeting (TheVerge) Twitter is introducing a Tor onion service version of its site, optimizing it for the privacy-protecting and censorship-eluding network. Software engineer Alec Muffett shared the news on Twitter calling it “possibly the most important and long-awaited tweet that I’ve ever composed.” Tor has also been added to Twitter’s list of supported browsers. 6. Britain To Force Big Tech To Combat Online Scams (Reuters) After appeals from regulators and consumer groups for a tougher crackdown on scams, the UK will force Google, Facebook, Twitter, and other online platforms to block paid-for false ads. The proposed law on combating online harms would force huge platforms to tighten their security against those who steal personal data or breach into bank accounts. 7. Google To Acquire Cyber Defense Company Mandiant For $5.4B (MediaPost) Google intends to buy Mandiant, a cyber protection and response firm, in an all-cash deal for $5.4 billion. The deal will address the current cybersecurity concerns that companies face. The integration will help firms to detect and respond quickly to threats, as well as analyze and automate threat information to ensure that their assets are protected. 8. Amazon To Secure Unconditional EU Approval For $8.5B MGM Buy (Reuters) According to sources familiar with the case, Amazon is anticipated to gain unconditional EU antitrust approval for its $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM, a move that would increase competition with streaming competitors Netflix and Disney+. The merger would also help Amazon’s video streaming service by enticing customers to sign up for Amazon Prime.
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Digital Monetization Update – March 3, 2022

1. Ad Sector Urges Congress Not To Ban ‘Surveillance Advertising’ (MediaPost) The Interactive Advertising Bureau and other ad industry groups are asking Congress to oppose a bill that would ban most kinds of online behavioral targeting. The letter came on the same day the House members convened a hearing on a suite of bills aimed at tech companies, including the “Banning Surveillance Advertising Act,” proposed earlier this year. 2. Biden Calls For Children’s Online Privacy Protections (WSJ) In an effort to address what the White House calls a national mental health crisis, President Biden pressed Congress to pass new internet privacy safeguards for minors. According to a White House fact sheet, the president urges Congress to ban excessive data collecting on children and young people and targeted advertising intended against them. 3. BBC Studios Signs Content Deal With India’s Largest AVOD Service (Variety) BBC Studios, the BBC’s commercial arm, has signed a content contract with MX Player, India’s largest AVOD provider with a strong presence in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, and Pakistan. MX Player has 300 million monthly active users worldwide and has surpassed the one billion download mark. 4. Video Advertising Can Work For Pharma & Healthcare Brands (AdExchanger) The digital revolution of the pharma industry has boosted media spending on video. Vertical and video spending in the healthcare and pharma industries are predicted to rise by 11% and 19% year on year, respectively. Due to altering media consumption patterns, media buyers are testing various combinations to maintain exposure and engage key audiences. 5. Netflix Acquires Next Games To Build ‘World Class Games’ (TheVerge) Netflix has made a bid to purchase Next Games, the Finnish studio behind the mobile puzzle RPG Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales. The acquisition comes at a time when Netflix is integrating a mobile gaming service into its core subscription service. Netflix Games was released last year on iOS and Android, and it comprises a handful of mobile games. 6. iSpot Acquires Tunity, Analyzes Habits Of Out Of Home Audience (Variety) iSpot, the measurement company that figures prominently in NBCUniversal and WarnerMedia’s plans to offer alternatives to Nielsen in the sector’s looming “upfront” marketplace, may acquire Tunity, an analytics company that analyzes consumer viewing habits in public locations across the country, including restaurants, offices, bars, and hotels. 7. Facebook Shuts Down Its College Student-Only Social Network (Engadget) On March 10th, Meta will shut down Facebook’s Campus trial project. Facebook claimed in a message that college groups were the “best way” to support students. After the deadline, it will remove Campus profiles, posts, and other material. One may download the data before then, and Facebook will propose comparable school groups to assist the transfer. 8. CNN To Launch Its Streaming Service CNN+ This Spring (Reuters) CNN said that it will launch CNN+, a news and entertainment streaming service, in the spring at a subsidized membership price of $2.99 per month. CNN will give the special pricing to customers who join up during the first four weeks, taking on known rivals in the highly competitive market of streaming programming.
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Digital Monetization Update – February 24, 2022

1. Meta Doubles Down On Reels To Help Creators Monetize (AdAge) Meta’s Reels is getting a boost. Creators may now earn up to 55% of ad income from banner ads – a semi-transparent overlay at the bottom of a reel, and sticker ads – static images placed anywhere in the video. The rest of the money will go to Meta, which is similar to Facebook’s in-stream ad program in terms of revenue split. 2. Twitch Creates New Program To Pay Streamers More Reliably (TheVerge) Twitch is launching a new program called the Ad Incentive Program, which will give streamers a guaranteed minimum amount of ad income each month. Twitch will notify qualified affiliate or partner broadcasters of varied compensation based on the number of advertisements aired per hour and total hours streamed. 3. Skype Allows 911 Calls From Computers To Its Users In The US (TheVerge) Skype customers in the US can now make 911 calls from their home computers, and the company’s software can also reveal their location with emergency personnel if necessary. The United States is the newest country to receive Skype emergency service calling; earlier it was only accessible in Australia, Denmark, Finland, and the United Kingdom. 4. iHeartMedia Use Veritone’s Synthetic Voices To Translate Podcasts (Variety) iHeartMedia will use Veritone’s synthetic-voice technology to translate and produce podcasts in other languages to expand its podcast business beyond English-speaking listeners. Initially, iHeart hopes to employ Veritone’s artificial-intelligence technology to translate the iHeartPodcast Network’s most popular podcasts into Spanish. 5. Google Lets Cloud Users Identify Idle Workloads To Reduce Emissions (Axios) Google will provide new tools to assist its Cloud users conserve energy and cut emissions by allowing them to regulate energy usage from idle projects. The Carbon Sense suite was introduced by Google. It is a set of tools aimed at assisting businesses in quantifying, reporting, and reducing their emissions. 6. Netflix Will Invest $45M In French And European Movies (TheWrap) Netflix will invest €40 million ($45 million) each year on French and European films over a three-year period with France’s film guilds. The deal is a first between a global streamer and the French film industry. Approximately 4% of Netflix’s yearly income in France will now go toward supporting films created in France and Europe. 7. Meta To Build An AI-Powered Universal Speech Translator (Engadget) Mark Zuckerberg disclosed that Meta’s research division is working on a universal speech translation system that might improve users’ interactions with AI within the company’s digital universe. He said Facebook has worked hard to build technology that allows more people to use the internet and these efforts will extend to the Metaverse. 8. LinkedIn Announces Launch Of Its Own Podcast Network (TechCrunch) LinkedIn is expanding its podcasting efforts by launching a podcast network that will include in-house shows from the LinkedIn News team and programs from industry experts. The shows are aimed towards a professional audience. LinkedIn’s other offerings, like newsletters, live events, videos, and articles, are all linked to the podcast network.
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Digital Monetization Update – February 17, 2022

1. Google Has New Publisher Program For Post-Cookie Era (AdAge) In the post-cookie era, Google is launching Encrypted Signals for Publishers that allows websites to interact with online advertising identifiers in Google’s ad platform. Encrypted IDs, according to ad tech experts, might be a lifeline for publishers in programmatic advertising, which is how sites serve ads to users who do identify themselves. 2. Google Plans Privacy Changes, Promises Not To Be Disruptive (TheHill) To protect user privacy, Google has announced that it would begin deleting ad trackers from its Android operating system. The suggested changes include ultimately eliminating advertising ID, a unique identifier provided to each Android device that allows marketers to create customized profiles and offer targeted adverts. 3. Spotify Acquires Two Podcast Tech Firms Chartable And Podsights (TheVerge) Spotify has announced the acquisition of Chartable and Podsights, two of the most well-known podcast marketing and ad attribution firms. Podcasters and networks may utilize Podsights and Chartable to insert tags in their broadcasts that monitor who listened, if they heard an ad, and whether they took action after hearing it. 4. Twitter Lets Developers Add Labels To Bot Accounts (TechCrunch) Twitter announced a new label that would allow the service’s “good bots” to identify themselves. While the term “bot” has a bad connotation, Twitter observed that there were good bots that automatically sent out vital information. These “good bot” labels are now available to all automated account owners. 5. Discovery+ Ad-Lite Option To Launch In The UK And Ireland (CampaignUK) Following the introduction of the service in the United States, Discovery UK has announced an “Ad-lite” option for users in the United Kingdom and Ireland on its Discovery+ platform. The company claims to be the first subscription video-on-demand service in the UK, offering a lower membership rate in exchange for “limited” ad exposure. 6. India’s Biggest Short Video Platform: MX TakaTak Merge With Moj (Variety) MX TakaTak of Times Internet and Moj of ShareChat are merging to create India’s largest short-form video platform, in a country where TikTok remains banned. MX TakaTak-united Moj’s platform will have 100 million creators, over 300 million monthly active users, and nearly 250 billion monthly video views. The deal is worth $900 million in cash and stock. 7. Russia To Impose Advertising Ban On Foreign Tech Firms (Reuters) Russia warned it would begin enforcing advertising bans on huge international tech firms that do not have formal representation in the country by March, as Moscow seeks tighter control over the internet. Since July 2021, international social media firms with more than 500,000 daily users have been required by Russian law to open offices in Russia. 8. Canada Uses Emergency Act To Rein In ‘Freedom Convoy’ Crowdfunds (Engadget) After weeks of occupation paralyzing the nation’s capital, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked Canada’s Emergencies Act in response to the “Freedom Convoy” rallies. Trudeau said he will utilize the Act to quell the protests in many ways, including expanding Canada’s money-laundering rules to cover crowdfunding sites and bitcoin transactions.
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Digital Monetization Update – February 10, 2022

1. Tumblr Launches New Monetization Feature To Help Bloggers (TechCrunch) Tumblr Tips is Tumblr’s second effort at monetization, allowing bloggers to accept one-time payments from their fans. Tipping is available on the web, iOS, and Android; but Tumblr will not use Apple or Google’s own billing systems to allow mobile tips, and creators will not be charged additional fees of 30%. 2. Youth Spend More Time With Online Video, Gaming, Social Media (MediaPost) According to a new Hub Entertainment Research, young media consumers continue to spend more time with online video, gaming, and social media and less time with traditional screen-based TV shows and movies. Gaming (25%), online videos (19%), and social media (13%) account for nearly 60% of “screen-based leisure time” for 13- to 24-year-old viewers. 3. Peach Acquires Advalidation To Empower Online Publishers (AdTechDaily) Advalidation, a SaaS platform focused on enhancing ad experience and compliance, has been acquired by Peach, a global leader in video advertising workflow and delivery. It is a strategic effort to give online publishers and media owners more control over their ad workflows. 4. Yahoo’s Future As Private Company Backed By 900M Users (MediaPost) Yahoo’s content is available to more than 900 million global users monthly throughout Yahoo’s network of companies, providing it with a unique perspective on first-party data through products like search, connected television (CTV), and email. Last year, Yahoo’s demand-side platform (DSP) grew by 64% and supply-side platform grew by 40%. 5. Twitter Advancing The Conversation On Social Media (AdAge) Twitter is reimagining public conversation to be more healthy, useful, and accessible to all. It is adding the feature of proactive prompts, which will make users think twice about the language they use or read the articles they are posting carefully before sharing them. It is also removing misinformation from Twitter using labeled tweets. 6. WarnerMedia, Discovery Get US Nod To Create New Media Giant (TheVerge) According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the merger of Discovery and WarnerMedia has cleared an antitrust assessment by US government agencies. Once finalized, the merged company will be one of the largest media conglomerates in the US, combining Warner Bros.’ TV and film holdings with Discovery’s vast library of TV programs. 7. Gaming Is Antitrust Regulator’s Blind Spot (Axios) Gaming has become one of the world’s major media industries, but it has yet to endure the scrutiny that other tech sectors do over how its business methods harm competition, customers, or workers. The biggest video game firms are devouring the competition quicker than ever before, despite substantial opposition from antitrust regulators. 8. Meta’s Stock Slide Highlights Tech Antitrust Bill Criteria (Bloomberg) Meta’s sliding stock price looked to provide it a silver lining, exempting it from the harsh antitrust sanctions under consideration in the US House of Representatives. On Tuesday, Meta was valued at $599 billion, following a stock price drop that began when the firm announced that its flagship app’s daily active users had dropped for the first time.
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Digital Monetization Update – February 3, 2022

1. Google Ad Revenue Surges 33% In 2021 Q4 (MediaPost) In the fourth quarter of 2021, Google’s overall ad revenue increased by 33% to $61.2 billion, above analysts’ expectations by 4%. Search advertising increased by 35% to $43 billion, and Google’s YouTube increased by 25% to $8.6 billion. YouTube’s ad dollar increases in the quarter eclipsed Netflix’s $7.7 billion in subscription revenue. 2. Meta Shares Plunge 20% As It Feels Heat From Apple And TikTok (AdAge) Apple’s recent privacy reforms and competition from firms like TikTok, might start to wear on Meta’s ad platform. Meta’s ad revenue in the first quarter of this year will be between $27 billion and $29 billion, representing a 3% to 11% growth year over year. In after-hours trading, Meta shares fell more than 20% due to the bleak forecast. 3. Gaming Companies Are Merging With Ad Tech For Real Reasons (AdExchanger) In the year 2021, there was tremendous consolidation in the ad tech industry. The combination of gaming companies with ad tech platforms is one especially noticeable little trend that is gaining traction. The objective behind the change is to replace old cookie-based technology with first-party data, which is the future of advertising. 4. Spotify Declares Itself To Be A Creator Company Now (TheVerge) Spotify announced its quarterly numbers at a particularly difficult period for the firm. Its monthly active users increased by 18% year on year to 406 million, while paid customers increased to 180 million. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek aspires to achieve 50 million creators who will profit from the platform. 5. Regulators Find Europe’s Ad Tech Industry Acted Unlawfully (Engadget) Data protection experts from throughout the European Union have determined that Europe’s ad tech business has been functioning unlawfully for years. The judgment, issued by Belgium’s APD (.PDF) and backed by authorities throughout the EU, determined that the industry’s underpinning system breached a number of GDPR standards. 6. NortonLifeLock Launches Feature To Protect Social Media Accounts (MediaPost) Norton LifeLock, a software and cybersecurity firm, announced a new feature to help users better safeguard their social media accounts against harmful attacks. In 2021, the number of people on social media has risen to 4.48 billion, accounting for more than half of the world’s population (56.8%). As the user increases, so will the number of threats. 7. Big Tech Boycotts Tend To Be Short-Lived (Axios) Boycotts of tech services have become increasingly common as political division and dissatisfaction with misinformation have grown. However, evidence shows that boycotts and the media attention they generate are usually short-lived. Even the most virulent boycotts have little influence beyond a single news cycle on Big Tech giants.
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