Empowering affordable entertainment
Mumbai: Since its launch in 2017, Cloud TV has revolutionized the smart TV experience in India by offering a premium feel at budget-friendly prices. As a homegrown, bootstrapped startup, it has emerged as a market leader, enabling over 12 million users across more than 6 million devices to enjoy top-tier content. With support for 200+ smart TV brands, partnerships with over 200 content providers and 100+ apps including Prime Video and Jio Cinema, and collaborations with 22+ manufacturing companies, Cloud TV showcases the power of accessible innovation.
Developed by Mumbai-based CloudWalker Streaming Technologies, Cloud TV is India’s first and only TV Operating System (OS) designed to bring high-end features to the affordable TV segment. Its user-friendly interface includes a content recommendation-based home page, diverse content categories, and Live TV channels for seamless navigation. Recognizing India’s linguistic diversity, its voice assistant supports regional languages like Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, and Gujarati, making smart TV technology inclusive and accessible.
Cloud TV’s focus on serving users in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, where demand for affordable, high-quality content solutions is growing, exemplifies its commitment to innovation. Led by Abhijeet and driven by a vision to democratize technology, Cloud TV continues to redefine India’s smart TV landscape.
Having acquired substantial expertise in the TV industry, Abhijeet Rajpurohit discovered the gap in India’s Smart TV supply chain for a robust TV Operating System which would cater to the needs of the Indian manufacturers. With this vision in mind, Cloud TV was formed to focus its efforts towards build-in and build-for India’s Smart TV brands and consumers Under the dynamic leadership of Rajpurohit, Cloud TV OS has successfully carved out a significant presence in the television industry.
The platform addresses the real challenges faced by Indian TV manufacturers by offering a globally competitive, user-friendly, and feature-packed affordable TV OS. With an impressive portfolio of over 200 apps designed to meet diverse user needs, Cloud TV stands out as the only fully developed and Made-in-India OS for Smart TVs. Today, it powers more than 12+ million users, 6+ million devices, 200+ Connected TV brands and collaborates with over 200+ content partners, including leading OTT apps and Live TV channels like Prime Video, Jio Cinema, India Today Group, Saregama and more
MadeInMedia.in’s Kalpana Ravi in conversation with Abhijeet Rajpurohit, COO and Co-Founder, Cloud TV on the launch of Cloud TV and its growth over the years, the advent of Connected TV and much more…..
Excerpts:
As India’s first and only certified provider of a Smart TV operating system, what were the key challenges and opportunities in establishing Cloud TV as a Made-in-India brand in a competitive market?
The opportunity to become a Made-in-India brand came out of the needs of the Indian smart TV ecosystem that needed local support and voice in the evolution of this industry. There were global OS who worked with Indian TV OEMs and brands, but there was a gap in understanding the market and needs of the industry. This is where we, CloudTV, established ourselves as a reliable partner to these industry stakeholders.
Abhijeet Rajpurohit is a seasoned professional with over a decade of experience in the industry. His academic journey began at OLPS School in Chembur, followed by a Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS) degree from GNIMS, Mumbai. Beyond the corporate world, Abhijeet enjoys playing tennis and embarking on wilderness adventures with his beloved pets. His passion for exploration extends to immersing himself in diverse cultures, cuisines, and global adventures, whether it’s skydiving, attending local cooking classes, or choosing homestays over hotels.
Abhijeet’s fascination with technology started early, fuelled by his love for gaming and curiosity about new tech products. His enthusiasm for learning and experimenting with gadgets, software, and applications, often inspired by YouTube content, has been a driving force behind his innovative approach at Cloud TV OS.
What does Cloud TV’s growth journey look like so far, and how has the brand leveraged its Made-in-India positioning to gain traction with Indian consumers and businesses alike?
Since 2019 when we started licensing CloudTV OS to other TV brands and OEMs, we have collaborated with more than 100+ OTT app partners, 200+ TV brands, and 250+ Fast TV channels across India. So, the growth journey has been promising for us and the network is growing. We work with TV OEMs and brands directly, so it’s a B2B business model and the Made-in-India positioning has especially helped us to connect with our partners as a reliable and trustworthy brand. We have the understanding of the unique needs of the Indian market that give us the sensitivity and flexibility to work with businesses.
How does your operating system, specifically tailored to the Indian market, address the unique needs of local consumers compared to global alternatives, and differentiate yourself in the competitive smart TV market in India, and what would you say has been the most significant factor in its success?
The Indian market is still in the midst of switching from traditional TV to smart TVs, and this growth is fast and exponential. OEMs and brands working with us are able to cater to these first-time buyers in tier 2 and 3 segments with an affordable smart TV segment that is much needed.
One of our biggest wins has been our competitive go-to-market timeline for TV brands. Unlike global OS providers, who may take several months to grant licenses to TV OEMs and brands, we can complete this process in just a few weeks. Another big technical differentiator is CloudTV’s versatility in hardware compatibility. While many global OS platforms have strict hardware specifications, Cloud TV can be configured to work seamlessly with all types of hardware. This flexibility allows both small and large brands to compete effectively in the market.
With seamless content integration and partnerships with top platforms, how does Cloud TV ensure a cohesive and accessible user experience for diverse audiences? What with over 200 content and 100 app partners, how do you prioritize user experience when integrating diverse content offerings?
Keeping the viewing experience seamless and relevant is something we are constantly striving for. Geography plays a role in understanding content needs and consumption, which also inspires strategic content partnerships with our partners. This is an ongoing process and there is constant development in comprehending the needs of the manufacturers and brands working in different regions of the country. Democratizing streaming content has remained one of our aims at CloudTV, so content discovery and recommendation is what drives the user experience for us.
We have focused a lot on content discovery and recommendation which has made the user journey easy for our viewers on CloudTV OS. Not only that, knowing the country and its multi-lingual population, we have also worked to provide Voice Assistance in a lot more regional languages like Marathi, Gujarati, Hindi and more to come soon.
As Cloud TV enables numerous brands to bring digital content to Indian viewers, what role does it play in shaping digital access and entertainment for the average Indian consumer?
Unlike other global OS, CloudTV enables the Indian manufacturers to make an affordable smart TV for the Indian consumer in smaller cities. This has been the crux of the brand as we believe in enabling access to entertainment through affordable smart TVs in homes. It also means that we have worked with flexibility and in competition with global players allowing the OEMs and brands to cater to a price sensitive market.
Connected TV (CTV) is transforming the advertising landscape in India. How do you plan to leverage programmatic CTV advertising, and what do you envision as its future impact on TV advertising?
CTV ads are more affordable than traditional TV ads, which is an attractive opportunity for advertisers in the Indian market. It means there could be more brands that can come onboard reaching out to their customers. Since CloudTV is enabling affordable smart TVs in tier 2 and 3 cities as well, you can also expect a lot of local and regional brands to get an opportunity to reach out to their target audience. And unlike traditional TV ads, CTV ads can be interactive and engaging. This is more relevant to the viewers.
CloudTV is working with advertisers to make all of this possible and provide the right ad platform that connects with the consumer. We are the only Indian OS to support CTV ads in the market, and that gives us a unique perspective and understanding on how this advertising landscape will evolve.
The Smart TV market is expanding rapidly in tier 2 and tier 3 cities. What strategies have you employed to meet the needs and preferences of these growing audiences?
It is important to note that we work on a B2B business model, so our clients are TV manufacturers and TV brands, not the end consumer. While we do not price the end product, we work with our partners on enabling the smart TVs to be affordable. We also work with our content partners for strategic collaborations to ensure the viewing experience for the viewers is enjoyable and relevant. This also helps our content partners reach a wider audience with our partnerships.
As the demand for Smart TVs surges across India, how do you see yourself contributing to this growth and pushing forward digital access across the country?
Providing access to entertainment through affordable smart TVs and democratizing content has been our vision at CloudTV. We also want to make sure the TV viewing experience is seamless; CTV ads are relevant to the viewer’s experience and content discovery is easy for them.
How are you planning to maintain the competitive edge while expanding partnerships and adding value for content providers, app developers, and advertisers?
Our content partners value the growing viewership with CloudTV and that makes our partnerships stronger. With CTV ads as a growing industry, CloudTV is the only Indian OS working with advertisers and brands to showcase their product to the viewers. With our reach in tier 2 and 3 segments, we are also enabling local and regional brands to get a chance to advertise on CloudTV devices to reach the right audience.
Looking ahead, what are Cloud TV’s key priorities to continue innovating and adapting to India’s fast-evolving smart TV ecosystem? Finally, what are your long-term goals for Cloud TV, and where do you envision the company in the next five years?
CloudTV is a platform that enables brands to build better products for their customers and works with building stronger partnerships with content providers to reach a wider audience. The vision remains to build for India first and understand the needs of its people to give them access to entertainment.
Being the only made-in-India brand in the industry, we have been pioneers in giving a premium experience on affordable smart TVs and keeping that credibility and trust is important to us. We are also now expanding to Set Top Boxes, so soon you will be hearing about CloudTV partnering with big providers in this industry and we’re excited for this journey.