Chiratae Ventures

Chiratae Logo

POPxo raises USD 2 Million in Series A funding from IDGVI, Kalaari Capital and 500 Startups

November 4, 2016

New Delhi, 4th November 2015: POPxo, India’s first and fastest-growing community for young women, has raised $2 million in Series A funding. The investment round was led by IDG Ventures India and Kalaari Capital, with participation from 500 Startups. The raise will fund the expansion of editorial operations in English and Hindi, the launch of new verticals, the scaling up of video production and new features for the recently released Android and iOS apps.

Founded by Priyanka Gill and Namrata Bostrom, POPxo is a dynamic digital media platform attracting over 3 million loyal and engaged readers every month. Since launch in March 2014, POPxo has quickly become the go-to fashion, beauty and lifestyle destination for young women (18-34) across the country.

Founder Priyanka Gill says, “It’s been an amazing journey so far. The response from our readers has been phenomenal. We have expanded rapidly, adding a Hindi site, producing our own videos, releasing our mobile app, and massively expanding our social following across Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and all the platforms our audience cares about. This fundraise will enable us to continue our rapid growth and deliver on the faith our audience, our brand partners and our investors have shown in us.”

Namrata Bostrom, co-founder and CEO adds, “Young women in India have never had a voice that truly represents them. We create stories and videos about the things they really care about – from fashion dilemmas to relationship issues and so much more. As well as investing in new, engaging content formats, over the next two years we will develop technology that will create an even-stronger sense of community within our growing reader base.”

To date, POPxo has partnered with brands like Nike, Whisper, Tanishq, Motorola, TrulyMadly, Lakmé, Chumbak, TIGI BedHead, Wills Lifestyle, Caratlane, Westside, Vero Moda, and Van Heusen. These commercial partnerships – covering native advertising and blogger activations have generated high levels of engagement, customer acquisition and social media buzz.

POPxo is also supported by well known angel investors like the Google India Head Rajan Anandan and CaratLane.com’s Mithun Sacheti (via the Chennai Angels).

Vani Kola, Managing Director, Kalaari Capital says, “Women are going to be a decisive factor when it comes to India’s Internet growth story. The evolution of digital content targeted specifically at the modern Indian woman is both essential and full of potential. I am pleased to work with the dynamic team lead by Priyanka and Namrata who are uniquely poised to understand the voice and needs of young women today.”

According to Karan Mohla, Executive Director at IDG Ventures India, “with millions of consumers accessing the internet, the consumption patterns of media are evolving. POPxo provides the best-in-class content platform for Indian women, especially the millennial generation. Through the passionate approach and vision set by the founding team, we’re confident that POPxo will revolutionize the way content and new media is adopted by the Indian female audience.”

Pankaj Jain, Partner at 500 Startups, says “Namrata and Priyanka have put together a fantastic team that really understands what young, modern Indian women are looking for and delivers it to them in spades. They continue to deliver high quality content to young Indian women in a way that appeals to modern sensibilities and addresses real needs. I am very excited to work with Priyanka, Namrata and the whole POPxo team in their mission to address the needs of modern Indian women.”

About POPxo POPxo is India’s first and fastest growing community for young Indian women to read, shop, discover and discuss the topics they care most about. As a digital media platform, it covers fashion, beauty, relationships, work, wedding and more – everything she needs to know to feel more confident, successful and fulfilled. POPxo is her digital best friend, one she listens to and trusts. Publishing content in both English and Hindi, as text and video, POPxo reaches millions of young women across multiple platforms including our website, native Android and iOS apps and our social media channels. POPxo’s channels on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat are some of the largest and most engaged digital communities in India today. The social media team has been the first to consistently create innovative formats that in aggregate reach tens of millions of women every month. Data is at the heart of everything POPxo does, from deciding what topics to write about and optimizing headlines to testing different layouts for the website and app. The analytical team works in tandem with the editorial and social teams to help them create content that is widely read, viewed and shared.

India’s top consumer brands partner with POPxo to reach out to their target audience, from creating native content that is fun and relevant to conceptualizing and running entire campaigns. POPxo is an effective platform for brands looking to engage and grow their customer base in a measurable, scalable way.

About IDG Ventures India:

IDG Ventures India (IDGVI) offer years of experience in helping build world-class companies by leveraging the IDGVI team and IDG global platform. IDG Ventures manages US$ 4 billion globally with over 200 portfolio companies and 10 offices across Asia and North America.

About Kalaari Capital:

Kalaari Capital is an early-stage, technology-focused venture capital firm with $650 million in assets under management. They have empowered visionary entrepreneurs building unique solutions that reshape the way Indians live, work, consume and transact.

About 500 Startups:

500 Startups is a venture capital seed fund and startup accelerator based in Silicon Valley with ~$200M in assets under management. We have invested in a wide variety of technology startups all over the world, currently ~1200 companies since our inception in 2010. Our team of over 90 people manage seed investments in 15 countries and speak over 20 languages. we run accelerator programs in San Francisco & Silicon Valley 4x per year emphasizing internet marketing and customer acquisition, design and user experience, and lean startup practices and metrics. Our investment team and mentor network has operational experience at companies such as PayPal, Google, Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo, LinkedIn, Twitter, Apple.