Hyperlocal Social Media Platform Lokal Raises Rs 120 Crore In Funding
Lokal, a hyperlocal content, community, and classified platform, has raised Series B funding of Rs 120 crore from new investors Global Brain and Sony Innovation Fund.
The funding round also saw participation from India Quotient and other existing investors.
As per the startup, the freshly raised funds will be used to expand in existing markets, launch new categories and product capabilities, and strengthen its product and technology teams.
Lokal | Hyperlocal Social Media Platform
Founded by Jani Pasha and Vipul Chaudhary in 2018, Lokal is a Bengaluru-based hyperlocal social media platform that provides hyperlocal information like daily updates, commodity prices, local jobs, real estate, matrimonial, local business advertorials, and classifieds that would otherwise be scattered across local newspapers in vernacular languages.
The startup is on a mission to strengthen hyperlocal communities by enabling its mostly non-English users to share, interact and transact in their regional language.
Speaking about the development, Jani Pasha, Founder and chief executive at Lokal, said,
“This funding round will be instrumental in accelerating our growth and getting us closer to fulfilling our vision of simplifying our users’ lives by enabling them to use the Internet more meaningfully.”
Currently, its app is available in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Marathi, and Gujarati on the Google Play Store. It has more than 40 million downloads, with a presence in about 180 districts across India.
Backed by marquee investors, namely 3one4 Capital, India Quotient, and Y Combinator, Lokal has raised about Rs 225 crore in funding, including the current funding round, and has 110 employees.
Anjani Bansal, Partner and India country head at Global Brain, a Tokyo-headquartered venture capital firm, stated that Lokal is building that application layer which unlocks the true potential for millions of Indians through a hyperlocal platform for content, community and classifieds.
Commenting on the development, Gen Tsuchikawa, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Sony Ventures Corporation,
“We see a natural growth in the non-English speaking population’s usage of internet-based services, creating the need for alternate social platforms like Lokal. We look forward to supporting the team as they expand across the fast-growing advertising market.”
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