YouTube CEO Neal Mohan announced a $100 million investment in India’s creator ecosystem over the next two years during his address at the inaugural World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025 in Mumbai. The investment aims to accelerate growth for Indian creators, artists, and media companies, cementing India’s position as what Mohan termed a “Creator Nation.”

“In India, over 100 million channels have uploaded content in the last year. And more than 15,000 of those channels have over 1 million subscribers,” Mohan said during his keynote at the four-day summit inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The platform has paid more than $2.5 billion to Indian creators, artists, and media companies in the last three years alone, according to Mohan’s presentation.

The summit coincided with YouTube’s 20th anniversary, with Mohan highlighting the platform’s role in expanding India’s cultural exports globally. “Last year, content produced in India racked up 45 billion hours of watch time from viewers outside the country,” Mohan revealed.

Notable success stories include bus driver turned creator KL Bro Biju, now India’s biggest creator with over 70 million subscribers across 40 countries, educator Roshni Mukherjee, who simplifies math and science for students, and artist Arpan Kumar Chandel (King).

Mohan also noted that Prime Minister Modi has the largest YouTube following of any head of government in the world, with more than 25 million subscribers.

Creator Economy at Inflection Point

The announcement coincided with Boston Consulting Group (BCG)’s report projecting India’s creator economy to exceed $100 billion in revenue by 2030, with creator-influenced consumer spending potentially surpassing $1 trillion.

According to the BCG study, India currently hosts 2-2.5 million content creators with over 1,000 followers each, collectively influencing $350-400 billion in consumer spending and generating $20-25 billion in ecosystem revenue.

However, only 8-10% of India’s creators effectively monetize their content, compared to over 40% in markets like the United States, Germany, South Korea, and Brazil, indicating significant growth potential.

In March, India established a $1 billion fund to bolster its creator economy as part of broader efforts to expand its influence in global media.

WAVES Summit Drives Industry Collaboration

The WAVES 2025 summit, organized by India’s Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, concluded with business deals worth approximately $160 million through its WAVES Bazaar initiative. Representatives from 77 countries participated in the Global Media Dialogue, adopting a declaration to foster cross-border collaboration, content safety, and ethical AI deployment.

YouTube’s investment aligns with broader partnerships announced with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies to develop creative talent in the region.

Broader YouTube Performance

The announcement follows Alphabet’s recent quarterly results, which showed YouTube’s ad revenue climbing to $8.93 billion in Q1 2025, marking a 10.3% increase year-over-year. YouTube Music and Premium services have surpassed 125 million subscribers globally, contributing to Alphabet’s 270 million paid subscriptions across all services.

According to Nielsen data, YouTube has maintained its position as the number one platform in streaming watch time in the U.S. for the past two years, with television becoming the primary device for YouTube viewing in the market.