Content startup Pencil has secured $1 million in its latest funding round. The pre-Series A round saw participation from SOSV – a US-based venture capital fund along with Inflection Point Ventures (IPV).
The fresh financing round also saw participation from existing investors – SucSEED and Mumbai Angels along with Artesian. The platform will use the funds raised to ramp up the tech team of the company.
“With the present boom in the creator economy, we spotted a void in creative spaces for authors. We want to fill this gap by bringing in a dynamic, transparent and truly digital literary space where writers can publish, improve their content, build audiences and monetise their creative pursuits,” Swarup Nanda, founder and chief executive officer at Pencil, said.
Co-founder of IPV – Ankur Mittal said, “There is a definite shift from ‘Uber for X’ era investing to passion economy investing, and Pencil is an investment in that direction. Pencil is a unique platform that facilitates self-publishing for authors and allows people an opportunity to financially benefit by pursuing their passion.”
Pencil is a free publishing platform that helps users to create, publish, and distribute their books globally in eBook and paperback format. Its Reader App helps users build their library on the go, with a wide range of content in different formats and different languages.
Pencil claims to be a safe, diverse, and global community that helps users connect with like-minded readers and writers.
Arya has been a part of the Content & Research Team at Hrnxt.com. She is a keen observer of economic developments, emerging businesses, people in business and keeps a tab on latest happenings in the business environment.