Gaming and entertainment firm JetSynthesys has acquired a majority stake in Fanory, a content monetization platform for creators, co-founded by former Twitter India head Manish Maheshwari, for an undisclosed sum. As part of the acquisition, Maheshwari will take charge as president, corporate level at JetSynthesys.
After leading Twitter India for over two years, Maheshwari moved to Twitter US as a senior director in August 2021 before moving on in January 2022 to start an ed-tech startup called Invact Metaversity. Maheshwari exited the startup in May to start Fanory, which is now out of stealth mode and available for download on the Play Store and App Store.
“The idea behind Fanory is to provide a monetization platform to creators. It gives them a personalized app through which they can provide exclusive content to their superfans and directly charge them money and keep most of that money,” said Maheshwari.
Creators can use in-app tokens on Fanory to pay for premium experience and content shared by creators they follow. They can engage with them directly through messages, video calls, and live sessions.
Maheshwari points out that social media platforms give creators visibility, distribution, and audience. “What they don’t give them is that consistent set of revenues and monetization. They prioritize user acquisition and engagement to whom they can serve the advertisement. Any money they pass on to the creator is usually a very small and minuscule amount of it,” he added.
Fanory will continue to exist as an independent brand led by Maheshwari within the JetSynthesys ecosystem, said Rajan Navani, founder and CEO of JetSynthesys.
“The social media creators market has grown exponentially, and we see this continuing for the foreseeable future. Fanory’s model is beneficial for creators. It compensates them for their hard work and creativity. With Manish by our side, we look forward to exploring this new avenue and entrenching ourselves deeper into the digital entertainment realm,” said Navani.
He added that this merger aligns with some of the other investments that his firm has been making towards larger strategic goals with Gen-Z audiences in mind.
For instance, last September, JetSynthesys acquired Bengaluru-based metaverse startup Metaphy Labs for an undisclosed sum. The firm has earmarked $50 million for metaverse investments over the next three years.
Further, Maheshwari said that creators can set the prices they want from followers. The majority of the money will go directly to the creators and Fanory will take a small cut of it. In addition to monetization, there can also be brand collaborations.
Maheshwari also added that NFTs present an exciting opportunity. “Owning digital rights is going to be big. But we have to see how the ecosystem evolves and what use cases emerge there,” he added.