Pepper Content Pvt Ltd, which runs a content writing and services platform, on Tuesday said it has raised $4.2 million (Rs 30.7 crore) as part of its Series A funding round.
The funding was led by venture capital firm Lightspeed India and major angel investors across India and Silicon Valley, said Pepper Content in a statement.
Some of the angel investors include Gaurav Munjal, founder of edtech startup Unacademy; Utsav Somani, the India head of US-based investment crowdfunding platform AngelList; and Dilip Khandelwal, former managing director of SAP Labs India.
The Series A funding comes just months after the startup raised its seed funding round in February from a clutch of investors including Titan Capital, the fund launched by Snapdeal founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal.
The Mumbai-based startup will use the fresh capital to add new content categories such as video and audio. It will also deploy the capital to expand to new geographies like Southeast Asia.
Pepper Content was founded in 2017 by Anirudh Singla and Rishabh Shekhar. The startup functions as an online marketplace that services the content requirements of companies.
It leverages freelance writers on its platform to deliver content pieces including blogs, research articles, and press releases, among others. It is also planning to venture into design and other content formats.
The startup says it has a network of over 30,000 creators and more than 400 customers such as Amazon, Swiggy, Max Bupa and Adobe.
Lightspeed India
The venture capital firm raised $275 million (Rs 2,052 crore) for its third fund in August. The new fund will continue to focus on early-stage startups in India and support them through their growth lifecycle, it had said.
Lightspeed had initially been investing in India through its global fund. It later launched its first India-dedicated fund of $135 million in 2015. In 2018, it added another $175 million with its second India-focussed investment vehicle.
The venture capital firm continues to make late-stage investments from its global fund.
Some of its popular bets include edtech firm Byju's, hospitality chain Oyo, B2B marketplace Udaan and social networking platform ShareChat.
Last week, Lightspeed along with Accel led a seed funding of $18.5 million in Uni, a fintech startup in stealth mode co-founded by former PayU India CEO Nitin Gupta.