Meet man whose love for music made him create Rs 8300 crore company, very close to Mukesh Ambani, he is...

Mukesh Ambani, one of India's richest billionaires, leads a massive portfolio of businesses, with many important partnerships. One of the most notable collaborations is with Rishi Malhotra, the visionary behind the popular JioSaavn app. This app has transformed the digital music landscape in India and is often compared to "India’s home-grown Spotify."

JioSaavn is an extensive music streaming platform that offers a large library of songs, podcasts, and audiobooks. Rishi Malhotra, who co-founded and serves as the CEO of JioSaavn, played a crucial role in elevating the platform through his leadership and business strategy. His deep understanding of the music industry and digital trends helped shape JioSaavn into a go-to app for millions of users in India.

Malhotra, originally from Nashville, Tennessee, grew up surrounded by music. He was influenced by a mix of Indian legends like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Lata Mangeshkar, as well as international artists such as Led Zeppelin and Miles Davis. His connection to both Indian and Western music gave him a unique perspective on the music streaming market.

Identifying a gap in the market, Malhotra, along with co-founders Vinodh Bhat and Paramdeep Singh, launched Saavn in 2007. Initially, Saavn was a B2B operation that focused on digitizing Indian music for platforms like iTunes and Amazon. This move brought in significant revenue early on. Malhotra famously said in an interview with Mint, “We thought, why not create a service where you can find anything—song title, movie name, composer, or actor—even with a typo, we should still be able to serve you.” This idea of making music easily accessible laid the foundation for Saavn’s success.

In 2010, Saavn launched its app to cater to the growing smartphone market in India. Just two years after Spotify’s launch, Saavn aimed to serve Indian music lovers with a platform that covered various genres and languages. The app quickly gained popularity, attracting the attention of Mukesh Ambani.

Ambani saw the potential in Saavn and invested in the platform to merge it with Jio, his telecom company, in 2018. This merger, valued at over USD 1 billion (approximately Rs 8300 crore), led to the creation of JioSaavn. The new platform combined the strengths of Jio’s extensive network with Saavn’s music library, offering a mix of free and premium services. Today, JioSaavn continues to dominate the Indian music streaming market, providing users with a seamless experience on both Android and iOS devices.

Through this partnership, Ambani and Malhotra have revolutionized the way people in India consume music, making it more accessible than ever before.