Pseudonymous social network Zorro announced on July 1 that it is rebranding as Hood ahead of its expansion into the United States.
Founded by Jasveer Singh, Abhishek Asthana (known as Gabbbar Singh on social media), and Deepak Kumar earlier this year, Hood allows users to share, confess and discuss various topics freely using a pseudonym on the platform.
Singh had previously told Moneycontrol that one of the huge challenges with social media platforms is that when the networks are open, people take it as an opportunity to bully others behind anonymous handles, giving anonymity a bad name.
"Like all great ideas, Zorro too grew into a higher purpose, building a community who speaks freely and fearlessly. It was imperative for our brand name to reflect this higher purpose. A shift from individual expressions to community conversations and open discussions. And it is this sense of community that gave rise to its new identity, Hood" Singh said.
Hood has previously raised $3.2 million seed funding from a clutch of 16 startup unicorn founders including Paytm's Vijay Shekhar Sharma, CRED's Kunal Shah, OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal, and BharatPe's Ashneer Grover.
Venture capital firms that co-led the round include 3one4 Capital and 9Unicorn Ventures, with Eximius Ventures, Roots Ventures and Venture Catalyst also participating in the seed financing.
Hood recently introduced a Groups feature that allows users to create or join groups based on their interests, which the company says is doing well on the platform.
"With the introduction of Groups feature, we realised that people will always gravitate towards topics and interests where they feel they can actively contribute and learn. And this was when like-minded people started to bond and connect. It gives you a sense of a community, where people can speak freely" said Asthana.
