Amar Chitra Katha CEO Vijay Sampat on biz restructuring, foray into digital media & more

Edupreneur Anant Pai started Amar Chitra Katha way back in 1967 which went on to become one of India’s biggest comic book series for children – presenting the tales from Indian mythology. But like any other publication, it was facing challenges in terms of re-inventing itself for a digital world. In 2007, entrepreneurs Samir Patil and Shripal Morakhia acquired and incorporated Amar Chitra Katha and its sister brands like Tinkle and Karadi Tales, besides bringing together the publication and the distribution business (India Book House) under a single corporate entity called ACK Media. Thereafter, they sold a majority stake to Future Ventures and also brought in the PE investor Elephant Capital. VCCircle caught up with Vijay Sampat, a partner with India Capital Advisors, who took over the reins of ACK Media as the CEO under the new owners. In a video interaction, Sampat talks about ACK’s restructuring and its plans to go big in the digital media space.