Unlu Raises INR 9Cr In Seed Fund Round Led By Nexus Venture Partners The funds raised will be used to support product development and market expansion

New Delhi-based celebrity engagement platform Unlu on Monday announced that they have raised INR 9 crore in a Seed funding round led by venture capital firm Nexus Venture Partners with participation from Mumbai Angels, TiE, and Expert Dojo.

The company plans to utilize the funding to build a technological base, support product development, and fuel market expansion.

"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," shared Vipul Agrawal, co-founder, Unlu.

Founded in 2020 by Vipul Agrawal, Himanshu Periwal, Akshay Pruthi, and Anurag Dalia, the startup has over 1 million users so far and focuses on celebrity engagements for consumers and brands with over 2000 celebrities on its platform.

"We are excited to partner with Unlu in their vision of using technology-led innovations for significantly improving celebrity – fan engagements," stated Anup Gupta, managing director, Nexus Venture Partners.

The platform offers multiple formats, the company has recently launched Unluclass - an edu-tainment platform that 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 celebrities who have expertise in various fields like sports, music, acting, fashion, comedy, writing, lifestyle, photography, among others.

"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 over 2,000 celebrities in various formats," added Himanshu Periwal, co-founder, Unlu.

The company also had very strong growth on the B2B engagements with celebrities like Shaan, Salim-Sulaiman, Harbhajan Singh, engage with brands such as Flipkart, MPL, and Dr.Vaidya.

The VC firm has been a pioneer in investing in market-leading technology-led businesses for India. Some of its portfolio companies include Unacademy, Delhivery, Snapdeal, Turtlemint, Whitehat Jr, Zolo, Rapido, Paysense, Pratilipi, among others.

The startup plans to innovate with product and engagement formats and onboard more than 5000 celebrities by the end of 2021.