Sequoia-backed community marketing startup banks $9m in Qualgro-led round

Convosight, an India-based community creator monetization platform, has raised US$9 million in its series A funding round led by Singapore-based venture capital firm Qualgro.

Convosight co-founders Tarun Dhamija and Tamanna Dhamija / Photo credit: Convosight

Existing backers including Sequoia Capital India’s Surge and IvyCap Ventures also participated in the round, along with Unilever Ventures and Ajay Gupta, a former executive at McKinsey & Company.

Convosight was part of the third cohort of Sequoia India’s Surge accelerator last year.

The startup is building a monetization ecosystem for community creators on platforms like Facebook Groups, Reddit and Discord, leading them to partnerships with brands.

“The rise of communities is remarkable as consumers turn to Facebook and WhatsApp group communities to discuss their pain points, opinions on various categories and brands,” said Shashishekhar Mukherjee, head of media for Reckitt, one of Convosight’s clients. “Through communities we have seen a shift in engagement narrative from likes to meaningful conversations leading to consideration, advocacy, and increased ROI [return on investment].”

Besides Reckitt, Convosight’s clients include retail heavyweights Procter and Gamble, Nestle, Abbott, and ITC as well as direct-to-consumer brands like Plum. The startup help these companies drive organic customer engagement, adoption, and brand consideration through community marketing.

According to Convosight, there has been a 25x jump in earnings for community creators on its platform, with close to US$1 million in total payouts.

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The top categories that engage in community marketing through Convosight’s platform include parenting, cooking, beauty and makeup, health and nutrition, as well as women-focused groups, said co-founder Tarun Dhamija.