Social platform Roposo gets $10 mn in fresh capital

Roposo, a social platform for sharing photos and videos, has raised $10 million (Rs 71 crore at current exchange rates) in its latest round of funding led by existing investors Tiger Global Management and Bertelsmann India Investments (BII).

This is the first deal that Tiger Global has led in the Indian market after a three-year hiatus. In October, it raised $3.75 billion for its new, and 11th, global venture capital fund, multiple media reports had stated.

Roposo will use the capital to develop its product technology, hire talent and expand its operations, it said in a statement.

In late November, the four-year-old startup raised Rs 12 crore ($1.7 million) in a fresh round of funding from Bertelsmann India Investments.

Prior to this, it secured $5 million from Bertelsmann India back in April 2016 as part of the second leg of its Series B round. In August 2015, Tiger Global had invested $15 million in the first leg of the Series B round. The US-based investment firm had also led Roposo’s $5-million Series A round in March 2015.

The venture was set up in July 2014 by Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi graduates Mayank Bhangadia, Avinash Saxena and Kaushal Shubhank. When it started out, Roposo operated as a social network for fashion enthusiasts, offering them curated choices across categories such as apparels, footwear, accessories and lingerie.

In 2017, Roposo became a video-sharing mobile app, allowing users to create videos with the help of filters, stickers and effects. It also offers content under specific categories through its channels Haha TV, Bhakti, Look Good-Feel Good and Beats.

Run by Relevant e-solutions Pvt. Ltd, the app supports nine languages such as English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Gujarati, Punjabi, Marathi and Bengali.

For the financial year 2017-18, Roposo’s operating revenue grew to Rs 83.75 lakh, up from Rs 31.67 lakh in the year-ago period, the firm’s filings with the Registrar of Companies showed.

Deals in this space

A number of online video sharing platforms offering vernacular content have gained investors attention lately.

In September, vernacular social networking platform ShareChat raised Rs 720.29 crore ($99.23 million then) in a round led by existing investor Shunwei Capital.

Medical content startup myUpchar has raised $5 million (Rs 35 crore at current exchange rates) in a Series A round of funding from investment firms Nexus Venture Partners, Omidyar Network and Shunwei Capital.

In July this year, Shunwei Capital also led a $5-million Series A round into Bombinate Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which runs vernacular knowledge-sharing platform Vokal.

In May this year, NewsDog, a Hindi and vernacular app founded by Chinese entrepreneurs, raised $50 million (Rs 340 crore) in a Series C round led by Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings.