[Funding alert] Tech startup Agrahyah Technologies raises $1M in Pre Series A round

Mumbai-based software company Agrahyah Technologies, which has in-house audio and text content creation capabilities, on Wednesday announced it has closed its pre-series A round of $1 million during the first quarter of 2019. 

Bootstrapped so far, the company aims to utilise the funds to fuel growth and expansion of its products namely aawaz.com, India’s first and largest Hindi non-music audio on-demand (podcasts) destination. 

The equity-based capital has been funded by undisclosed high-net-worth individual (HNI) investors. The company has also on-boarded Ashutosh Ghanekar of ANG Capital as an investment banker for raising further rounds in the near future. 

Commenting on the investment, Sreeraman Thiagarajan, Co-founder, Agrahyah Technologies, said, 

"We are fortunate to have found like-minded partners in our investors, who are not just funding our growth but are helping to create an entirely new category in the Indian internet space and giving us a great opportunity to lead it."

ALSO READ

With a fund of Rs 1 Cr, non-profit Agami creates a data hub for law and justice

“The bets we placed two years ago to create original content in non-video formats such as podcasts, scripted audio shows, and long-form reads in Indian languages are now yielding great results, which is evident from the kind of loyal listeners we are witnessing. Our strategy remains to create high quality original content in audio and text & use technology to deliver it seamlessly," he says.

The funding comes at a time when the company is also diversifying into English podcasts through a soon to be launched new product named HFTcafe.com, which is aimed at youth and millennials. 

aawaz.com has grown to about 200 hours of professionally produced audio content, and over 2,000 long-form reads in Hindi across multiple genres such as devotional, comedy, entertainment, stories, short news, celebrity interviews, and more. 

Launched in January 2019, aawaz.com has garnered over 200,000 listeners across web, Android App, IndusOS app, and third-party distribution endpoints like Airtel and Ola Play. 

Agrahyah is a team of 37 people, and was co-founded by Sreeraman Thiagarajan, Rushabh Vasa, and Uppal Shah in 2017.

The company is also approached by leading OTT players to licence and onboard aawaz.com’s rich repertoire of original content on their platforms, it said in a statement.

Agrahyah, which generates revenue from its voice and content services, is a listed partner agency by Amazon India for Alexa Skills development and AVS implementation. 

PWC’s Media and Entertainment India report released in June 2019 pegs 40 million podcast listeners in India as of 2018, which is a sharp 57 percent jump from 25 million the previous year. The report also states the growth of podcasts in India will continue at a CAGR of 34.5 percent to reach 76 million listeners by 2013.

(Edited by Megha Reddy)

ALSO READ

[Funding alert] Grofers raises $10M as part of its Series F round from Abu Dhabi’s Capital Inve...

ALSO READ

[Funding alert] Online pharmacy Netmeds raises Rs 6.19 Cr from its parent entity