Flyx, an over-the-top (OTT) content-focussed discovery and social interaction platform, has raised $200,000 (Rs 1.5 crore at current exchange rates) in pre-seed funding.
The investment in the New York- and Delhi-based company comes from a clutch of wealthy individuals including Raj Mishra, the founder and chairman of software development and services provider AIT Global Inc.
Flyx was set up by Shashank Singh and Mayank Mishra. It says its algorithm-based platform recommends watchable content for users through its mobile application. Consumers of its service can also access the shows that their contacts have watched and can create several category-based lists, including private ones.
The company will use the funds to accelerate product development and expand its services in India, it said in a statement.
Singh said Flyx would also enhance its technological infrastructure and add more OTT and social networking platforms to its portfolio.
“We have seen encouraging growth over the last few months, and we consider this to be the right time to scale our operations, and to strengthen our position as the one-stop-shop for reviews, feedback and updates,” he added.
Separately, Raj Mishra said he was confident of his investment in Flyx because of growing content consumption trends and Singh and Mayank Mishra’s approach to addressing the need for discovering content.
The investment in the company indicates the allure of OTT platforms and the startup community that has sprung up around them, be it in the content creation or technological segments.
For instance, in April, mobile-based multimedia interactive platform Plop raised funding from a clutch of investors. The round was led by Better Capital and Hari Balasubramanian’s EaSyndicate, an angel network on LetsVenture.
Also in April, Inflection Point Ventures invested around Rs 3 crore in Vogueme Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which operates video meta-tagging platform Toch. The startup’s platform helps customers to analyse video content using artificial intelligence, providing them actionable insights.