A podcast content creation and distribution company called Sochcast has launched in India’s technology capital city of Bengaluru. According to Sochcast Founder Anil Srivatsa, the network’s mission is to “amplify the thoughts, knowledge and experiences of Indian women”.
During his childhood, Anil Srivatsa learned the importance of women’s empowerment initiatives from his mother, Chaya Srivatsa, who worked in human rights. Today, the Indian media executive credits his mother for inspiring him to launch Sochcast. He believes that podcasting may offer a new opportunity to raise women’s voices and aid in the rapid socioeconomic revolution of women in India.
Srivatsa hopes that Sochcast will be instrumental in penetrating and breaking down the social walls in India that have prevented many women from finding a safe space to share their thoughts on the internet. In his own words, Sochcast “will create a space for the voices of Indian women within the mainstream national discourse”.
Currently, Sochcast has over 18,000 minutes of original content in their library. They plan to gradually release the existing content over time while they continue to build out their technology and fine-tune their listener experience.
Sochcast will house a combination of in-house productions and user-generated content. Their original content, Srivatsa says, is “created by Indians for Indians” and will cover a range of categories, including humor, personal storytelling, music, interviews, and spirituality.
The name “Sochcast” was selected by Srivatsa as a way to give podcasting its own place in Indian society and culture. While the word “podcast” has no real meaning outside of English, the word “soch” translates to “thoughts” in Hindi. By combining “soch” with the word “podcast”, Srivatsa was able to create a new word that holds a new level of significance for the Indian community: “thoughts, spoken for broadcast”.
Sochcast recently hired their first employee, Akanksha Thapliyal, as their Head of Original Content. The Indian media executive has spent over 10 years in content creation, beginning her career at international ad agencies like Ogilvy and Grey Worldwide. Her experience ranges from copywriting to audio content, voiceover media, and creative strategy.
Sochcast will be rolling out their Android and iOS in the near future while they seek additional funding to expand their platform.