4 rising startups in India – Feb 18

Photo credit: Melissa Segal.

It’s always risky to take a chance on entertainment, which is why Tiger Global’s bet on video content is so intriguing. Coincidentally, Lightbox VC and local crystal gazer Sid Talwar listed video content as one of 2016’s most promising sectors in an article for Tech in Asia at the start of the year. Gaming, home services, and a social networking app for outdoor activities also got funding today.

The Viral Fever

Online content is a great way to reach India’s entertainment-loving masses, and Tiger Global put its bets on that with its investment of US$10 million in Contagious Online Media Network’s product, The Viral Fever. The Viral Fever was founded by Arunabh Kumar, Amit Golani, and Biswapati Sarkar, and produces comedy and satire videos.

Tiger Global also reportedly picked up a 25 percent stake in the company. Last year, it participated in video content creator Culture Machine’s US$18 million round.
See: My three bets for 2016: education, lending, video

Gamezop

Photo credit: David Goehring.

Smartphone gaming app Gamezop raised US$350,000 in seed funding today. Investors include existing investor Powerhouse Ventures, Tracxn Labs, and angel participation from Redbus co-founder Phanindra Sama and Snapdeal’s product officer Anand Chandrasekaran. Before this, it raised a round of angel funding when it graduated from tech accelerator GSF.

The startup was founded by two brothers, Yashash and Gaurav Agarwal, and focuses on India’s data-conscious market by providing tons of options on a single app. It also hopes to capture the short attention spans of most gamers by collecting fast-paced, quick games on a single platform.

See: Forget Netflix and chill. This 20 year-old founder wants to play

Timemytask

On demand home cleaning services site Timemytask raised an undisclosed amount of funding from angel investor Lead Angels.

The money will be used for expansion and to launch its tech application. It claims to have served over 5,000 customers with more than 25,000 hours of cleaning completed.

It’s yet another startup to get funding in the home services sector. Earlier today, US$27 million funded Housejoy acquired Orobind, a startup that provides fitness trainers on demand at home. While there is no dearth of startups focusing on the issue, the real question is whether any of them can provide the scalable quality that home services demand.

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