You're reading it here first: MediaNama has learned from multiple, reliable sources that online advertising network VDOPIA has raised a first round of funding from Nexus India Capital. According to some industry sources, the deal is upwards of $3 million, though we're not sure of the exact amount. We've contacted Suvir Sujan of Nexus India Capital and Saurabh Bhatia from VDOPIA, and are awaiting a response. VDOPIA competes with Jivox, which has raised a total of $10.7 million from Opus Capital and Helion Venture Partners. Ozone Media, which had reportedly raised around $4 million from IDG Ventures, also has a video ad network. At a time when advertising appears to be emerging as the key source of monetization for Indian video content on the Internet, the role of advertising networks cannot be overstated. VDOPIA powers advertising on several video content sites including NDTV, NDTV Profit, IBNLive, Josh18, Indya.com, Starboxoffice.com, Cricket Nirvana, SpiceZee, BigFlix, My Popkorn, Rajshri, IPLT20.com. Advertising has also been drying up. Update: We haven't heard back from Sujan, and Saurabh Bhatia of VDOPIA has declined to confirm or deny the funding. In this context, also read the following posts on video content: -- TinselVision’s Closure Should Serve As A Warning For Video Content Portals -- Times Now On Nautanki.tv; Thoughts On Video Content Online
