GIF-searching platform Gifskey raises seed funding

Hyderabad-based GIF-searching platform Gifskey has raised $1 million (Rs 7.1 crore) in a seed round led by Kstart, the seed fund arm of Kalaari Capital. GIF is a computer file that supports both animated and static images.

The round saw participation from existing investors Whiteboard Capital, WEH Ventures, Angelist and Touchstone Equities, said Gifskey in a statement.

Gifskey, operated by Emojifi Pvt. Ltd, plans to use the funds for business development and enhancing technology of the platform, the statement added.

Founded in 2017 by Mahesh Gogineni, Manan Maheshwari and Varun MS, Gifskey is a search platform which provides GIFs (Graphics Interchange Format) and stickers in eight Indian languages. It also provides application programming interface (API) for third-party integrations.

The startup has partnered 30 apps including Dailyhunt, Xploree keyboard and APUS. It is also in talks with other major content players and keyboards, the statement said.

“Mobile users preferring regional language content are growing tremendously in India,” said Gogineni.

All the three founders had previously run an on-demand beauty and wellness startup, Zapluk, which got acquired in 2016 by Quikr, a classifieds business.

Gifskey aims to address the Indian vernacular market with content driven by Indian language movies and culture.

The regional language space has seen multiple investments over the past year, with native language chat app ShareChat leading the way with a $100 million investment.

Last week, video content platform Awaaz raised an undisclosed amount from Matrix Partners. The platform focuses on regional and hyper-local content.

Others also raised capital in 2018, like location-based local language social platform Khidki, medical content startup myUpchar and local language knowledge-sharing app Vokal, co-founded by former Taxi For Sure co-founder Aprameya Radhakrishna.

E-commerce major Amazon, too, launched a Hindi version of its app in August last year.