KOLKATA: In yet another bullish move, Indian short-format video app Mitron TV has announced the expansion of its leadership team with two senior hires. Former Bytedance executive Shyamanga Barooah has on board as head of content strategy and senior journalist Biswarup Gooptu, who spent 10 years at the Economic Times, has joined as head of partnerships & policy.
In his new role, Barooah will be responsible for developing and optimizing a tailored content strategy, whilst driving the best content practices for internal and external stakeholders. Gooptu will focus on driving public policy for the company and building government alliances.
Barooah is a seasoned media professional with over 20 years of experience in journalism, content creation and management. Prior to his current role, he was the content operation head of Helo and chief editor of News Republic, which is part of ByteDance Inc, the parent company of TikTok. He has also worked for global firms like Cheetah Mobile and leading media houses like India Today, Times Internet and Hindustan Times. A former member of a blues band, he continues to follow his passion for music.
An alumnus of Cardiff University UK, Gooptu is a media veteran with over 15 years of experience in journalism. During his stint at the Economic Times, Gooptu covered the Indian start-up ecosystem, private equity and venture capital funding amongst other beats. He has also worked with Reuters and Telegraph.
Mitron co-founder and CEO Shivank Agarwal said: “The impact of short-video consumption and digital entertainment is growing at a rapid pace, making this sector one of the most exciting in present times. At Mitron, we are in a robust growth phase and continuing to reinvent ourselves. With Shyamanga and Biswarup’s expertise, we look forward to further strengthening our proposition and scale the business to the next level.”
Mitron content strategy head Shyamanga Barooah said: "It's great to be part of Mitron's amazing journey in the short-format video space in India. I feel there is a lot of opportunity within this dynamic space, especially in a storytelling and vibrant nation like India.”
“I am delighted to be joining the company’s leadership team at such a pivotal time in its growth. This is an exciting time for Indian technology landscape and we are poised to become one of the leading short-video social media application,” Mitron partnerships and policy head Biswarup Gooptu said.
In just seven months, Mitron app has crossed 39 million-plus downloads on Android Play Store. As part of its efforts to support the government’s initiative of ‘Vocal for Local’, Mitron recently launched Atmanirbhar Apps, a one of its kind discovery platform for Indian applications. Currently, the platform hosts more than 100 apps and plans to bring 500 apps by the end of this year. Mitron was also the first in the space to launch categories to build vibrant communities of like-minded audiences. This particular initiative enabled users to discover the content of their interest and creators to engage with like-minded followers.
