Bangalore-based start-up Homingos, building Augmented Reality (AR) based social networking platform, has announced a round of funding. Seasoned investors led by BITS Spark Angel Network members Raju Reddy, Sundi Natarajan, JayanRamankutty, Shivakumar Ganesan, Rahul Seth, and Srinivas Anumolu of Growth Story, and others are backing the team.
Founded by Shourya Agarwal, Malhar Patil and Rajat Gupta, BITS-Pilani graduates, Homingos will use the investment to accelerate the development of an AR powered platform and camera interface. The funding will also go towards user acquisition, strengthening the talent pool and developing innovative tools as the mainstay of social sharing, going beyond games, filters and effects.
Raju Reddy, Early investor and Mentor, Homingos, said, “The promise and passion shown by the Homingos founders places them well to achieve their aspiration of reimagining social sharing globally. I believe the Homingos team with their strong business fundamentals, deep engineering capabilities and commitment to building a world-class company are well equipped to realize their goals. I am proud to stand by them as they build a pioneering and game changing product for the world in India.”
Commenting on the funding Shourya Agarwal, Co-founder and CEO, Homingos, said, “While photographs have been printed since 1839, our innovation “Smartphotos” prints videos for the first time ever. Homingos aims to become the go-to platform for social sharing and engagement in the AR-enabled world. An interface that is fast, scalable and cost-effective, the Homingos platform is designed to inspire users to connect, share and engage using AR in ways they have never done before. The backing of seasoned investors strongly underpins our proposition.”
Speaking on the Smartphotos experience, Rajat Gupta, Co-founder and CTO Homingos, said, “Such tangible printed media makes it easy to discover and access memories which may otherwise be lost in the clutter of images stored on various devices. It also delivers a one-of-a-kind magical experience, almost like a Harry Potter* moving poster. The sharing and gifting of these printed videos spread this magic, deepens emotive bonds and triggers the need to continue to connect, share and engage further.”
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.