Exclusive: Curated video-on-demand site Muvizz raises angel funding

Movie-on-demand platform Muvizz.com has raised Rs 2.2 crore ($350,000) in angel funding from three Singapore-based investors, the company's co-founder told VCCircle.

The investors are Ashish Todi, MD at Frost Global Pte Ltd; Abhinav Patodia, director at Great Himalayan Shippers Ltd; and Kumar Shwetabh, CEO at Pacific Global Inc.

Co-founder Abhayanand Singh said the company, run by Indie Muviz Pte. Ltd, will use the fund to procure movies, build its IT infrastructure and hire people. "The funds will help us increase traffic to the website," he added.

Singh, who was earlier an investment banker, said the site offers a curated list of titles, ranging from short films to documentaries to feature films, in various languages to users so that they don't have to go through thousands of titles to decide which one to watch.

The firm is also looking to raise $1.5-2 million in Series A round of funding from existing investors and a couple of other domestic and international institutional investors. "We are in an advance stage with the investors. I hope the deal will be finalised by November," he said.

Singh, who had earlier worked with Sidus Consulting Pte Ltd, Pinnacle Fund Management Ltd and HSBC, said the next round of funding will be used for building their mobile app and to obtain some exclusive movie titles. A part of the capital will also go towards marketing and campaigning.

Muvizz competes with the likes of Eros Now, Spuul, BoxTv and Hungama Play in the movie-on-demand space.

However, Singh claims that all these sites focus on mainstream content while Muvizz showcases movies based on social issues. "Our focus is mainly parallel and contemporary cinema whereas other sites are more inclined towards Bollywood movies," he said. The site has curated 200 movies so far from the feature, non-feature, documentary and short film genres for viewers, he said.

The company was launched in May this year by Singh and TV serial and documentary producer Piyush Singh (they are not related. It has a four-member panel, headed by critically acclaimed actor Manoj Bajpayee, which curates movies across Hindi mainstream, regional and global categories. It offers two feature movies on Friday and one non-feature on Wednesday. It is planning to introduce at least one movie daily from October.

Besides a pay-per-view revenue model, the company also has a subscription-based model that allows users to view unlimited movies listed in the catalogue.