Mumbai-based marketplace Instamojo secures funding from Blume Ventures

Mumbai-based Urbanpotion Technologies Pvt Ltd, which runs Instamojo, a P2P platform that enables one to give away unused goods by sharing a unique link, has secured undisclosed funding from Blume Ventures, a top executive of Blume Ventures confirmed to Techcircle.in.

"The funding round is in progress. The company will use the money for product development and marketing," Blume Venture managing partner Karthik B. Reddy told Techcircle.

The fundraising was first reported by MediaNama. An e-mail sent to Instomojo did not elicit any response till the time of posting this article.

Founded in 2012 by Sampad Swain, Aditya Sengupta, Akash Gehani and Harshad Sharma, Instamojo allows users to sell reports, code, documents, photos, templates, tutorials, music, and videos, for free by just sharing a link. The user has to list the stuff he/she wants to give away and Instamojo, in turn, creates a page for the posting. The unique link of the page can be shared then with friends, fans and followers. When someone interested claims it, the owner gets an intimation e-mail and can give it away. The platform is available for users across the world.

One can upload an offer for free, be it a physical product or sharing one's skills via scheduling a time-based event. In order to start off, you need to register via Facebook and go to the dashboard where you will be able to upload the product and schedule the timing. The company will also arrange regular meet-ups so that people can collect the things they have claimed.

An MBA from IBS Hyderabad, Swain had previously worked for ITC and Godrej. He had also co-founded WanaMo.com, which was acquired by the Smile Group and later got rebranded as Dealsandyou.

A B.Tech from Veermata Jijabai Technological University of Mumbai, Sengupta was a Junior Research Fellow at IIT Bombay, an administrator for BarCamp Mumbai and the Mumbai Python Users Group.

An alumnus of Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, Gehani had worked for General Electric, WNS Global Services, Swain's WanaMo and ICICI Lombard. Sharma had previously co-founded oCricket.com, a socio-networked application for an instant flash of all cricketing news across the world.

(Edited by Prem Udayabhanu)