Social network Zorro raises $3.2 mn in seed funding

Bengaluru: Pseudonymous social network, Zorro, has raised $3.2 million as a part of its seed funding round co-led by venture capital firms 3one4 Capital and 9Unicorn Ventures, the company said on Friday.

The round also saw participation from several founders of ‘unicorn’ startups, including Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder, Paytm; Ritesh Agarwal, founder, Oyo Rooms; Ashish Hemrajani, founder, BookMyShow, Kunal Shah, founder, Cred, and BharatPe co-founder, Ashneer Grover among others.

According to the company, the proceeds from the current round will be utilised to ramp up Zorro’s technology team, in a bid to accelerate its product growth.

“One key issue in this day and age is paid tweets and even paid reviews. Zorro is a pseudonymous social network, which is ring-fenced and content moderated. This gives you a clean and authentic timeline consisting of people from your network, sharing and consuming content freely. Moreover, we are fortunate to have some great founders on board, who bring a wealth of experience to the table.” said Jasveer Singh, co-founder and chief executive, Zorro.

Early-stage venture capital firms including Eximius Ventures, Roots Ventures and Venture Catalyst also participated in the funding round.

“We are living in the creator’s economy and thus there is a growing need for a pseudonymous platform where you can be yourself. Pseudonymity allows people to control their reputation and exposure to unwanted social interactions and consume or create content freely and fairly. This is a great opportunity and we have complete trust in the founding team of Zorro,” said 3one4 Capital, in a statement.

The platform is currently allowing users to join the waitlist, and is not open for all users yet.

“There is always a risk of being trolled and targeted for the content you share. Hence there was a pressing need for a pseudonymous platform where people can have free-wheeling conversations without the fear of being judged. This is a great opportunity for us to be a part of this innovative platform which we expect has a potential to tap at least 10% of the total Indian population,” said Dr Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, founder of 9Unicorns and Venture Catalysts.