PR Solutions Startup Wizikey Secures ₹ 2.5 Crore from IAN, NASSCOM Chairman and Others

Underlining its commitment to nurturing start-ups with domain-defining potential, Indian Angel Network, the single largest horizontal seed stage platform in India, has recently invested INR 2.5 crore in Wizikey, a tech-driven PR solutions start-up. IAN’s investment in Wizikey marks a significant step towards transforming the Indian PR and social media industry, which is estimated to be valued at INR. 4,500 crore.

The funding round was led by prominent IAN investors including Alok Mittal, Ambarish Raghuvanshi, and Saumya Meattle (Investor Director). Other angels participating in the round include Raman Roy - Chairman, NASSCOM; Ajai Chowdhry - Cofounder, HCL and Arun Duggal - Chairman, ICRA and others.

Wizikey is a SaaS-based product that enables businesses to discover relevant journalists, and send information to them via the platform. Using algorithms that help relevant search and targeting, it brings high levels of efficiency in PR management. Further a company can maintain record all their announcement activity, maintain brand collaterals on the platform for easy reference, and monitor response.

The capital infusion will be used by Wizikey to further develop its product offerings and scaling it to cover multiple vernacular languages. The funding will also be used for enhancing the platform’s AI and Machine Learning-based capabilities to power its recommendation engine, along with optimizing the quality of content creation. The end-goal is to help businesses choose the most relevant journalists for their brands. Wizikey is co-founded by Aakriti Bhargava and Anshul Sushil, SRCC and IIT alum respectively, passionate about bringing technology to communications.



Picsdream, India’s 1st Online Marketplace for Photography Raises Angel Funding From Investors Including Ankit Nagori

New Delhi-based Picsdream, India’s first marketplace for photography, has raised angel funding led by Raman Roy, CMD Quatrro and Co-Founder of Indian Angel Network (IAN). Other prominent investors include Ankit Nagori, Ex-CBO Flipkart and Harish Natarajan, Former CEO Bausch & Lomb India.

Ankit and Harish have also joined the company’s Board of Directors.

Launched in November 2015 under the Group company of Addazz Online Services (P) Ltd, Picsdream is a marketplace and a platform, both on the web and as a mobile app for photographers to share, showcase and monetize their work. Picsdream offers photographers a portal to share, showcase, monetize and securely store, their work. It is a community for photographers to learn, share best practices and add value to their work. The platform connects photographers – amateur, semi-professional and professionals - with buyers of photographs. Picsdream provides the buyers with exciting options of media on which they can get it printed and delivered to their doorstep.

Picsdream will utilize the funds for selective and targeted marketing to build its community of Picsdreamers – and to invest in product and technology development for an enhanced user experience.

“My vision for Picsdream is to create a comprehensive platform for the Indian visual arts community and to enable our users to truly realize the potential of this unexplored space. We wish to constantly introduce elements that make the platform user-friendly, intuitive and interesting,” said Mahesh Nair, Founder and CEO, Picsdream and an avid professional photographer himself.

“I am excited about Picsdream’s vision and strategy as it strengthens its platform, grows its community of contributors and engages with buyers. I believe that the timing is right to create a marketplace for photographers as there is heightened interest in photography, given that more than a trillion photographs are clicked every year!. This space holds tremendous promise and bundling services with the product would be a winning combination” said Raman Roy, CMD Quatrro, a serial entrepreneur himself and considered the father of the Indian BPO Industry.

Other select investors in their individual capacity include Surojit Shome, India CEO of an MNC Bank, Vipin Chawla Co-Founder Instant Systems Inc, USA, Baskar Subramaniyan and Madhavan Sreenivasan, Former Co-Founders of Servion and ex Citibanker Vikram Sud. “We are delighted that this distinguished and discerning group of investors has chosen to support us in our mission” added Mahesh.