Network 18 launches business portal, Firstbiz.com

Last month, the company launched News18.com, a local news portal.

Network18 has launched a new business news portal, firstbiz.com as a stand-alone business news and views site. The news comes close on the heels of the launch of another news portal from the company about two weeks ago, when it launched news18.com, a local news portal.

Firstpost.com, the existing news portal of the group, has been covering business and economy for about three years.

The launch of the new portal comes at a time when the country is looking forward to a General Election where economic and business agendas are set as much as the political agendas. Firstpost in its statement says that users must engage with the economy and business, as deeply as with politics.

R Jagannathan, editor-in-chief, Firstpost.com, says, "By reflecting a diverse range of public opinion that mainstream media was slow to respond to, Firstpost made a space for itself. With Firstbiz, which is targeted not just at business and entrepreneurs but all economic agents driven by aspiration, the need for a quick turnaround on news and views is even more vital. Digital media is best-placed to serve this growing community of participants in the India growth story with its unique take on developments."

The website aims at being present on all platforms, starting from the desktop and laptop, and soon enough on iPad and Android smartphones, amongst others.

Durga Raghunath, CEO, Firstpost, adds, "We have a three-pronged aim with this launch. First is, rethinking posting around business. We know that business news consumption on digital has reached a plateau, but there is a way to coax every reader to become a business news reader. Second is making business inclusive. Digital media by its very nature allows us to focus on the niche. We don't have constraints of inches or minutes, we can afford to have a very long tail, focus on big, mid-level as well as smaller entrepreneurs."

The third is that the company is thrilled to take Biztech that was previously a stand-alone property into the network's fold. "Enterprise technology is a phenomenally important space that we will build a multitude of experiences around. We will focus on great depth in this area, both online and offline. And finally, this is a beta production," she adds.

A lot will change along the way, as it happened with Firstpost, based on user feedback and analytics.