Actor-entrepreneur Sonu Sood’s travel-focused social media platform Explurger announced a fund raise of Rs 37.3 crore from global technology company Affle in a Series A funding round on February 22.
Apart from Affle, the startup has not revealed the name of other investors who participated in the funding round.
The funding took place at a pre-money valuation of Rs 338 crore, the startup said in a release.
Post this investment, Affle will hold a 9.03 percent stake in the startup.
It was in 2021 when Sonu Sood along with Jitin Bhatia founded Explurger, which provides a personalised travelogue to users.
The platform is estimated to have over 8.5 million users across 75 countries.
“Affle is a leading name known for its tech innovations and R&D, and with them as an investor, it validates our vision to build a future social media platform that goes beyond likes and shares and truly builds a globally connected community using the advancements of AI,” said Explurger CEO Bhatia.
The other investors in the company include India Discovery Fund, Jaipuria Family Office, Khimji Family Office, Action Group Family Office, and Kajaria Tiles Family Office.
The startup is targeting the fast-growing social media market in India as well as the travel segment to acquire more users.
Explurger competes with homegrown startups like Slick besides giants like Meta and Snapchat.
Along with Explurger, actor Sood in 2020 had also turned a founder of Pravasirojgar, a platform dedicated to searching jobs.
Over the last few years, several actors like Sood have added to the growth of the Indian startup ecosystem by emerging as investors and entrepreneurs.
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