April 1, 2023

Announcement: IDR is being acquired by a global firm

Here's what that means for you (and for us).

2 min read

Yes, you read that right.

IDR is being acquired by the world’s largest development sector publication based in the United States. As you know, it’s important to us that you get the knowledge you need, when you need it, and in formats that are accessible.

This acquisition will help us do all that and more.

Read below to find out more about the changes you can expect to see, as well as the reasons behind this strategic move.

What this means for you

Our acquisition will shift IDR’s business model and enable us to bring in a much-needed global approach to the development community in India. More importantly—and this is what we really care about—it will take voices from India and the Global South to Western markets.

Over the last nine months, we have worked relentlessly to create a partnership that prioritises the diversity of our content, values our editorial integrity, and believes in the power of knowledge to create social change.

But all this comes at a price

In line with our partner’s other publications in various parts of the world, IDR articles will soon be behind a paywall—effective April 15, 2023. The first 1,000 people to sign up here will get 50 percent off on their first 20 articles.

This new model will not change IDR’s editorial focus—our direction will continue to remain independent of any funder, nonprofit, or partner relationship.

As our co-founder and CEO Smarinita Shetty says, “IDR was set up as a nonprofit to make knowledge about social change accessible to all. It has been a free resource since its inception, making sure that the ones who needed the information the most could always find it. But we, as an organisation, have recently felt this is no longer feasible for us to survive. The new model will help us maximise impact, albeit with reduced access to some organisations. This partnership will also enable mainstream media collaborations for us, bringing more visibility to the social sector.”

Why now?

We founded IDR as a nonprofit in 2017, with the objective of surfacing learnings, best practices, data, and evidence related to social impact, so that together we can do more and do right by the millions of Indians with whom and for whom we work.

However, over the last six years, we have witnessed and been subjected to the increasing clampdown on both nonprofits and independent media in the country. As such, we found ourselves at a stage where we could either stop publishing the kind of content we set out to, or find a more long-term form of financial support that would enable us to continue doing the work we believe in. We chose the latter.

With this acquisition we have created an approach that is sustainable for both our organisation and the sector. We hope we will have your support going forward.

Questions?

Click here to send in your comments or questions, or [email protected].

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
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India Development Review

India Development Review (IDR) is India’s first independent online media platform for leaders in the development community. Our mission is to advance knowledge on social impact in India. We publish ideas, opinion, analysis, and lessons from real-world practice.

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