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Mumbai based digital publisher Pencil has raised $1 million in pre-Series A round funding.
Led by SOSV, along with Infection Point Ventures (IPV), and Artesian. The round also saw the participation from its existing investors including Mumbai Angels, and SucSEED.
“The startup plans to utilize the fund for building its technology and for hiring,” the statement said.
Speaking on the investment, Ankur Mittal, Co-Founder, Inflection Point Ventures, said, “While digital transformation is sweeping through every sector from real estate to manufacturing to transportation, it has somehow eluded the publishing space. The pencil is democratizing the publishing industry and promoting a passion economy where it will make it easier and convenient for people to publish content and for that content to find not only a reader base but also OTT platforms who may be interested in converting those stories into movies and web series.”
“Use of analytics, dynamic editing, digital distribution, and most importantly, open access to new markets for budding writers that allows them to connect with their readers and get real-time feedback are the factors that helped our decision to invest in Pencil,” Ankur added.
Commenting on the funding in Pencil, William Bao Bean, General Partner, SOSV, and Managing Director of MOX, said, “We’re in the middle of evolution in dynamic content: data will shape how people read, learn, and publish in the next decade. The publishing industry is ripe for disruption, and we cannot think of a stronger team to work with.”
“We are on a mission to make publishing a transparent and truly digital ecosystem for authors, readers, and publishers. We aim to democratize creativity by empowering writers to become authors, improve their content, build audiences and monetize their creative pursuits. We are extremely fortunate to have such wonderful investor-partners backing us who share our vision and want to help us grow faster by supporting us not just financially but also open access for us to take our business to the right audience,” Swarup Nanda, Founder & CEO of Pencil added.