Photo Credit: HYBE India
K-pop and entertainment giant HYBE launches a hunt in India for the next girl group sensation, starting today through July 31.
Korean entertainment giant and BTS parent company HYBE has announced a nationwide girl group audition across India, opening applications for the latest phase of its talent discovery and development initiative. Talent scouting starts today (March 31) and runs until July 31, 2026.
The audition invites women from across India, born between 2005 and 2011, to showcase their individual talent across a range of categories. These include vocals, dance, rap, modelling, acting, and more.
The move to focus on a girl group in India comes from a melange of research conducted both in person and online across the country. Building on insights from a study of audiences in their teens and twenties, plus research across six key cities in collaboration with Nielsen, HYBE India identified an opportunity to create a girl group showcasing “Harmony in Diversity.”
“The audition is a new entry point for young people in India,” said Lee Woo-chang, CEO of HYBE India. “The company has built a training and development system tailored to local conditions.”
Auditions will feature both online submissions and in-person rounds across Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Pune. Some cities will also host pop-up activations as part of the audition experience, with more details coming soon.
HYBE India is the Indian arm of the Korean music and entertainment company, which manages major talent like BTS, Tomorrow X Together, Seventeen, and Le Sserafim.
The company has been looking for more ways to diversify its offerings after putting so many eggs into BTS’ basket, which left HYBE floundering (comparatively speaking) while the members of BTS were on hiatus for their mandatory Korean military service.
Now that BTS is back—and the reception has been somewhat tepid—the timing is perfect for HYBE to focus on developing a new group. A girl group makes even more sense, capitalizing on the global success of Netflix’s Kpop Demon Hunters and the film’s fictional girl group, HUNTR/X.
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