NEW DELHI: Celebrity engagement platform Unlu has raised Rs 9 crore in a seed funding round led by marquee venture capital firm Nexus Venture Partners, with participation from Mumbai Angels, TiE and Expert Dojo.
Unlu has over one million users so far and focuses on celebrity engagements for consumers and brands with 2000+ celebrities on its platform. It plans to utilise the funding to build a technological base, support product development and fuel market expansion.
A Delhi-based start-up founded in 2020 by Vipul Agrawal, Himanshu Periwal, Akshay Pruthi and Anurag Dalia, team Unlu consists of a bunch of 2X entrepreneurs who have worked with Amazon, ixigo, Vokal and are graduates of INSEAD, IIM Calcutta and Delhi University.
Unlu co-founder Vipul Agrawal shared, “We founded Unlu with a single-minded focus to understand and exceed the expectations and needs of celebrities and fans and are excited to see the results and path forward. We understand the needs of celebrities who have tight schedules but want increased engagement with fans and need a platform to share knowledge about the craft they have perfected. We aim to become the de-facto platform for celebrities. We are thrilled to join hands with Nexus, the topmost VC firm of India.”
Nexus has been a leading investor in market-leading technology-led businesses for India. Some of its portfolio companies include Unacademy, Delhivery, Snapdeal, Turtlemint, Whitehat Jr, Zolo, Rapido, Paysense, Pratilipi, etc.
Nexus Venture Partners MD Anup Gupta said, “We are excited to partner with Unlu in their vision of using technology led innovations for significantly improving celebrity – fan engagements.”
Unlu offers multiple formats, the company has recently launched Unluclass - an edutainment the platform which will announce one celebrity every week. Presently live with Johnny Lever, Ruskin Bond, Manoj Bajpayee and Shashank Khaitan, consumers can look forward to Unluclass offering more top tier celebrities who have expertise in various fields like sports, music, acting, fashion, comedy, writing, lifestyle, photography, etc.
“Our vision is to use technology to significantly enhance the experience of celebrities with consumers and brands in a win-win manner for all stakeholders. Our product allows users to engage with the likes of Manoj Bajpayee, Guru Randhawa, Saina Nehwal, and 2,000+ celebrities in various formats,” added Unlu co-founder Himanshu Periwal.