When VideoVerse announced its acquisition in September 2025, it felt like a victory for startups across India. VideoVerse was a simple clipping service, but after years of startup incubators and pitching clients, the company had pulled off a $250 million exit. 

The acquirer was Minute Media, an international sports publisher split between New York and Tel Aviv, with plans to scale VideoVerse’s clipping software beyond its Indian niche and into the lucrative world of international sports.

Less than a year after the announcement, the deal has unraveled. 

Investors are still waiting for their share of the $250 million windfall, and founder Vinayak Shrivastav is now at the center of multiple legal cases. Even the acquirer, Minute Media, seems to be backing away. In May, the company said it was terminating its contract with VideoVerse, underscoring that the two had continued operating as separate legal entities even after the acquisition closed. 

Reached by TechCrunch, a Minute Media representative said that “after, among other things, significant discrepancies were discovered in VideoVerse’s representations, Minute Media decided to terminate its engagement with the company.”

If the allegations are true, this was more than just a deal that fell through. Across multiple legal filings, creditors and investors paint a picture of a serially untruthful CEO, who used the guise of a successful business to accumulate cash-generating debts and side deals until the pretense became untenable. The result is an alarming reminder of the limits of due diligence and how much the business of startups still relies on trust.

The sheer volume of legal cases shows that trust is now in short supply. Bluestone Capital, which backed VideoVerse in its 2023 round, is now suing the company for fraud, alleging that the startup violated its investment terms and refused to pay out proceeds from the acquisition. In a separate suit, a creditor is seeking to recover $64 million from a loan that Shrivastav took out shortly after the acquisition closed. 

The same complaint alleges that Shrivastav committed fraud during the acquisition itself, claiming he “used fraudulent merger documents that did not reflect the business terms on which Mr. Shrivastav and Minute Media had agreed to induce Clippings’ shareholders to approve the merger.”

Even VideoVerse executives have begun lobbing accusations. The company’s COO alleges in a separate case that Shrivastav forged his signature on loan and share-repurchase agreements, extracting tens of millions of dollars from the company, in the wake of the Minute Media deal.

The Business of Clipping

While not a household name, VideoVerse became a key player in the billion-dollar clipping industry, providing automated tools for editing long-form broadcasts into the shorter clips that travel well on social platforms. 

Its flagship product, Magnifi, is an AI-powered tool that can automatically identify key players and moments. Using the software, clients could easily generate packages of every three-point shot in a basketball game, for instance. Backed by an extensive human support team, the platform attracted high-profile clients like the Indian Premier League, FIFA+ and Nippon TV.

It is a lucrative niche, and one in which Minute Media had hoped to expand to the U.S. market before VideoVerse’s internal problems surfaced.

Even across the multiple cases against Shrivastav, there are conflicting claims and inconsistencies, as investors struggle to make sense of the current state of the company. What is clear is that tens of millions of dollars are missing, and there are already disputes about where the money went and how much is owed to whom.

In October, Shrivastav approached the investment firm Lingotto, arranging a $55 million structured loan — supposedly to satisfy an earlier creditor. With the Minute Media merger already public at more than four times that amount, it appeared to be a safe bet. The financing was even backed by statements from the creditor and Minute Media’s own CEO. According to a court filing from Lingotto, $53 million was transferred to an account controlled by Clippings on October 1, backed by a standard repayment schedule.

But Lingotto now says critical documents provided by Shrivastav were forged. Minute Media’s CEO never signed the documents, the lawsuit alleges, and screenshots purporting to show internal bank balances were also fabricated.

According to the terms of the loan, Lingotto was owed a $4 million payment on March 31, but it never arrived. When the investment firm called in the full amount of the loan with interest, it discovered a long list of people waiting to be paid by VideoVerse. A separate loan from Bluestone Capital had gone into settlement a few months prior, with similarly overdue payments. By the end of April, Shrivastav was out as CEO.

The following months have produced a web of overlapping court claims, as Minute Media, Lingotto, and Bluestone each seek restitution in Delaware Chancery Court. A separate claim from former COO Sabya Das alleges a more complex tangle of fraud involving secondary sales and a confidential high-interest loan.

Shrivastav did not respond to multiple attempts to contact him for this story. His most recent listed address, which appears in Das’s complaint, is on the Palm Jumeirah islands in Dubai.

Glucose tracking may eventually be as simple as wearing a ring.

UC San Diego researchers have developed CHARM, a smart ring prototype that reads glucose from sweat collected at the finger. Early human testing compared its estimates with commercial CGMs and blood-glucose meters to see whether a finger-worn device could follow glucose changes throughout the day.

A ring could make glucose monitoring feel less intrusive and easier to fit into daily life if the technology proves reliable.

CHARM collects sweat without a workout

CHARM does not need you to work up a sweat. According to UC San Diego, a soft hydrogel inside the ring passively draws tiny amounts of fluid from the skin. A small channel carries the sweat across sensors that detect glucose.

Glucose in sweat is not the same as a blood-glucose reading. Researchers use personalized calibration to estimate corresponding blood-glucose levels, then CHARM sends the data wirelessly to a phone. People familiar with wearables for blood sugar tracking will recognize the app-connected setup.

Battery life reaches about 12 hours in the current prototype. Sensing hardware and wireless electronics fit inside the ring itself.

Early tests tracked commercial monitors closely

Researchers tested CHARM with healthy participants and people with type 1 diabetes, comparing its estimates with commercial CGMs and blood-glucose meters. Results published in Nature Communications showed that the ring captured the same meal-related rises and falls seen in the reference readings.

Some sweat-based readings lagged blood measurements by roughly 15 to 20 minutes in individual tests. Researchers also reported that personalized calibration settings remained relatively stable for about two months.

More health data fits into the same ring

CHARM can monitor ketones alongside glucose, with researchers also checking those readings against commercial blood measurements.

Sensors can be configured for lactate and uric acid. Vitamin C and alcohol are supported too, with up to four biomarkers monitored at once.

Consumer products currently take a different route. Oura Ring, for example, gets glucose data from Dexcom Stelo. Smartwatches used for glucose tracking generally display readings supplied by a compatible CGM. CHARM puts the sensing technology on the finger.

Everyday glucose tracking still has hurdles

A ring-based glucose sensor could appeal to someone tired of juggling multiple devices. People already getting blood sugar alerts on their smartwatch could benefit most if a ring reduces the gear and upkeep involved in daily monitoring.

If you are watching this category, focus on the basics before getting excited. Accuracy during fast glucose changes and calibration frequency come first. All-day battery life and water resistance will help determine whether a ring can stay on through normal routines.

Researchers still have work to do in those areas. Broader clinical testing and better water resistance remain priorities, and the prototype’s current battery life falls short of the multi-day wear people have come to expect from smart rings.

CHARM remains a research prototype and is not commercially available. FDA guidance says no smartwatch or smart ring has been authorized, cleared or approved to independently measure or estimate blood glucose without piercing the skin. Anyone relying on glucose readings for treatment decisions should continue using an FDA-authorized glucose monitor.

Read our breakdown of five smartwatch health alerts worth knowing across Apple, Samsung, Google, Garmin, and Huawei devices.