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    Khabri raises pre-series A round of $2.1 million from investors

    Synopsis

    After penetrating the Hindi speaking markets, Khabri plans to launch content across multiple regional languages like Tamil, Telugu and Kannad, in the next two quarters.

    1ETtech
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    Khabri, the Indian vernacular audio platform, has raised $2.1 million (Rs 15.5 crore) in a pre-series A funding round from a clutch of investors including Liquid 2 Ventures, Siqi Chen, Pioneer Fund, Rebel Fund, Shailesh Rao (Ex- Google India MD, Ex -twitter) and Edward Lando.

    The company will use the funds to strengthen its product and tech offerings.

    After penetrating the Hindi speaking markets, Khabri plans to launch content across multiple regional languages like Tamil, Telugu and Kannad, in the next two quarters.

    “As a leading digital audio content platform in a local language, Khabri has been instrumental in creating an influencer-user ecosystem for Hindi language speakers,” said Pulkit Sharma, co-founder & CEO, Khabri. “We are aiming at adding multiple languages soon with the new influx of funds. Our app is playing a pivotal role in providing learners with more passive learning opportunities, and teachers to get a bigger outreach.”

    Right from its inception, Khabri has been backed by the likes of YCombinator, GSF accelerator and many marquee entrepreneur-turned-investors.

    During the pandemic, Khabri witnessed sixfold jump in users and a 4X increase in the number of creators on the platform, the company said. It claims over 4 million downloads as of date.

    “We’re excited to be early investors in Khabri,” said Jared Heyman, managing partner at Rebel Fund, a seed stage Y Combinator-focused venture fund. “My partner Steve Huffman (co-founder of Reddit) met with the Khabri founding team in March 2021 and noted how impressed he was with their early user traction, fast growth, and strong App Store ratings. We feel the company is poised for significant further growth and look forward to supporting it along the way.”

    “The platform will soon be a driving force in helping communities connect with and learn from one another in vernaculars and countries around the world,” said Anya Hayden, general partner, ANIM Fund.

    Shailesh Rao, an advisor and investor of Venture Highway and BigSpring, said he has been a big believer in the power of audio to expand access to digital services. “Pulkit and Sandeep are product-first founders who have built a vernacular first audio platform that gives all Indians access to a path to employment and a better quality of life by focusing on skill development and access to jobs,” he said.


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    ( Originally published on Aug 04, 2021 )
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