Lightspeed, Mayfield, Kunal Shah back community platform MyScoot

Delhi-based, community platform for home-hosted experiences MyScoot has secured $1.7 million (Rs 11.7 crore at the current exchange rate) in a seed round from Lightspeed India Partners, Venture Highway, and Mayfield India.

Kunal Shah, CEO of fintech startup CRED, and Maninder Gulati, chief strategy officer at OYO Rooms, also participated in the round, an official statement from the company said.

The company plans to use the funds to build its core team, recruit fresh tech talent and increase market penetration, the statement added. 

The funding will help MyScoot build artificial intelligence (AI)-based social experience recommendations, develop safeguards, and establish a stronghold in their already active Delhi and Bengaluru market, the statement said.

Founded in 2017 by Somvir Yadav, Suyash Sinha, Akhil Tripathi and Sidharth Rawat, MyScoot is a platform to meet verified new people at home-hosted social events. It is a model similar to Airbnb, where customers can host or book parties post completion of a five-step verification process.

The host sets the price point for their offering and earns money as they select guests to attend, the statement said. MyScoot offers parties of all kinds like dinner parties, board game brunches, Salsa dance socials to backyard bonfires.

MyScoot was the part of Y Combinator’s 2019 winter batch of startups and raised $150K as part of the programme. 

“We’re excited to have such seasoned investors and experts support the MyScoot mission - to make real connections in today’s digital, online world,” Sinha, CEO & co-founder, MyScoot, said. “Their belief in our vision will allow us to scale and create a stronger, more robust platform to better serve users. Our goal is to reach more of the world’s largest youth cohort, Indian millennials, enabling them to create bonds and build friendships in a new and meaningful way.” 

In a similar deal this month, Delhi-based UrbanClap Technologies raised about Rs 1.5 crore from former Flipkart chief people officer Mekin Maheshwari and SAB Holdings, an investing company of high net worth investor Anjali Bansal.