Data analytics firm Mu Sigma’s former chief executive Ambiga Subramanian has teamed up with former head of operations Goutham Ekollu to launch a social-networking application christened hyphen.social.
“Our primary focus is to increase social engagement within the social network. The way that’s done on this platform will be by finding the right balance between anonymity and community-based regulations,†Ekollu told VCCircle.
He said the mobile app will have a strong gamification element that will boost social engagements.
Ekollu said the beta version of the business-to-consumer (B2C) product is expected to be launched in a few weeks and anyone on a social networking platform is part of a potential target audience.
Ambiga is the chairperson of the company. While Ekollu is CEO, his wife Krishnaveni Kumbaji is taking care of the development of the product. The firm is self-funded by the trio.
The development was first reported by The Economic Times.
MuSigma went through a leadership crisis following a divorce case between Ambiga and her former husband Dhiraj Rajaram, founder of the company. Ambiga was briefly CEO of the company. After they parted ways, Rajaram became the CEO, bought her shares and got investors’ support while Ambiga quietly moved on.
MuSigma’s investors include Sequoia Capital, MasterCard, Fidelity and General Atlantic, among others.
The social networking space in India has witnessed a number of new players emerging and raising venture capital investments over the past months.
In June, Mumbai-based social networking platform VoxWeb Pvt. Ltd raised $1 million (Rs 6.45 crore) in its third round of external funding from a clutch of unnamed individual investors. The flagship product of the company, Speaking Pictures, allows users to capture and share moments through photographs with voice-over options.
In the same month, Hike Messenger Ltd acquired social networking app Pulse that enables users to stay connected with their college and school communities.
In November last year, ShareChat, a regional language social networking app operated by Mohalla Tech Pvt. Ltd, had raised $4 million in a Series A round led by Lightspeed India Partners.
Nodd Ventures Pvt. Ltd, which operates networking app Nodd, raised $146,000 from former Just Dial Ltd’s chief technology officer Sandipan Chattopadhyay and IKYA associate partner Jaison Jose, among others. The app-based networking platform helps individuals discover and meet like-minded people through curated experiences, data analytics, experiences and algorithms.
