YouTube CEO Neal Mohan told delegates at the first ever World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES) in Mumbai that the video sharing platform is planning to invest an additional $100m in India’s creator community over the next two years.
Speaking during a session entitled ‘Powering the Creator Economy in India’, he called India “a creator nation”. He said the proposed investment would have “tangible impact, forging countless career and business pathways for a vibrant new India.”
Mohan also used his time at WAVES to outline YouTube’s progress to date in India. According to the YouTube boss, 100m Indian channels have uploaded content onto the platform in last year, with 15,000 of those channels having over 1m subscribers.
Underlining the cross-border appeal of Indian content, it generated 45bn hours of watch time from viewers outside the country during the last year. “YouTube’s ability to connect creators with audiences everywhere has made it a powerful engine of cultural export, and few nations have leveraged this as effectively as India,” said Mohan.
In terms of revenue returns for creators, Mohan said YouTube has paid out around $2.5 billion in the last three years.
In March, the Indian government announced plans to set up a $1 Billion Fund to boost the country’s creator economy. The fund was unveiled by Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who explained that it will be “dedicated to ensuring that energetic creators, who are using the latest technologies, will be able to access capital, hone their skills, upgrade production levels, and reach global markets.”
