Knowledge Sharing Platform Vokal Launches in 10 More Indian Languages

Vokal, India’s largest vernacular interest-based knowledge sharing platform, announced its launch in 10 additional Indian languages. It is now available in Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, Oriya & Assamese.

Available both in Android app and iOS App as well as a progressive Web App, Vokal now has over 2 million monthly users and is growing 30-50% every month. It plans to cater to 100 million monthly users within 2 years.

In November, the company also launched Video Q&A in vernacular languages that enabled knowledge sharing in audio and video and will soon be available in text for those who prefer reading over listening or watching.

Aprameya Radhakrishna, CEO Vokal said, “We’re very
excited to open up the platform to 10 new Indian languages. Language diversity
is unique to India. We look at this diversity as a reality and an opportunity.
Vokal has always wanted to level the field for Indians. We believe in the power
of the Internet and want to enable the best minds of India to share knowledge
in their respective language. Launching a new language unleashes the power of
knowledge sharing among creators and knowledge access among the respective
language’s users. We are happy to be a catering to a larger number of
communities now.”

Mayank Bidawatka, Co-founder Vokal said “Vokal aims
to be one of the first few products to be used by India’s 500 million
vernacular Internet users. Every new language accelerates our movement in that
direction. We have had a strong demand for other Indian languages from the
respective communities. We are happy to have learnt community preferences in
Hindi and now have the ability to launch in multiple languages within days. We
will launch in multiple other Indian languages in the year. This is just the
beginning.”

Vokal is India’s
vernacular knowledge sharing platform. Vernacular users use Vokal to learn
something new every day from the best minds in the community. This knowledge
sharing revolves around large interests. Users get to choose from 10+ interests
and can follow creators among 1000s of sub-interests. Users can seek knowledge
by asking questions. These questions are answered in regional languages by
volunteering experts on the platform. Most of the answers are in video and
audio. Text knowledge will soon be launched on the platform.

About
Vokal:

Vokal is the India’s largetst Knowledge sharing platform in Indian
language- Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Telgu, Malyalam, Kannada, Punjabi
Oriya etc. Experts contribute to India’s Knowledge sharing base on Vokal by
answering users’ questions. Vokal gives every Indian the ability to interact
with the smartest people in the country through Questions & Answers or by
watching Live Video sessions every day. Vokal enables every Indian to have a
voice and share something of value with the entire Vokal community. Join Vokal
and Start Contributing as an Expert, If you are good at something and help to
build the knowledge base for the non-english speaking population! Download
Vokal and GetVokal.

Vokal First to Launch Video Q&A in Vernacular Languages

Vokal is a peer-to-peer knowledge-sharing platform for India’s non-English Internet users. The product is a few months old and already boasts of 500000+ questions with 1000s of questions pouring in everyday on varied topics that are very unique to India. Vokal is currently in Hindi and launching in multiple languages in the next few months itself. It also has a live video streaming feature where experts share their knowledge with users.

This week Vokal launched Video Questions & Answers in vernacular languages. Vokal is the first product in India to be bringing such a feature to vernacular Internet users. Video answering helps animate and humanize the Question & Answer format and make it a lot more interesting for the viewer.

Users can ask questions using the voice / text option as usual and knowledge contributors now have the option to respond either in audio or video.

Aprameya Radhakrishna, CEO & Co-founder, Vokal said “We’re excited about being the first in India to introduce Video Q&A in vernacular languages. Indians have shown a preference for video as a format on most global platforms. Our contributors are enjoying answering using video. It’s an addictive format and is showing healthy engagement. We are format agnostic and will continue innovating on offerings to suit the Indian vernacular Internet audience.”

Mayank Bidawatka, Co-founder, Vokal said “Video viewership is increasing worldwide. Even in India people spend a lot of time on YouTube and watching videos on social media platforms. Thanks to cheaper and faster mobile Internet Indians have taken to watching videos without worrying about running out of data packs. We got requests from our users to introduce video answering. A face lends credibility to the answer and helps the viewer get to know the contributor better. We invite Indian experts to contribute in their native language to bring knowledge parity for vernacular India. The language diversity issue is unique to India and we can’t expect a solution from anyone who never faced this diversity.”

Vokal, India’s largest vernacular knowledge sharing platform, recently raised a $6.5 million Series A that saw a participation from Kalaari Capital along with Shunwei Capital, 500 startups, Accel India & Blume Ventures too.

In May this year, Vokal had also acquired StupidChat Technologies, a quizzing app based out of Bangalore, in an all-stock deal.

TaxiForSure Co-founder’s Vernacular Platform Vokal Raises $5 Mn from China’s Shunwei Capital

Vokal, a peer-to-peer (P2P) knowledge-sharing platform in Indian Languages, has announced that it has raised $5 million in a Series A round of funding lead by China’s Shunwei Capital, and new investor 500 startups.

The financing round also saw participation from existing investors Accel India and Blume Ventures, it said in a statement.

Notably, Vokal was co-founded by Aprameya Radhakrishna, who is one of co-founders of cab hailing, TaxiForSure, which got acquired by its bigger rival Ola in 2015.

In the same year, Radhakrishnan co-founded Vokal along with Mayank Bidawatka. In Feb. 2016, the startup raised it first funding of $2 million from Blume Ventures and Accel, who had invested in TaxiForSure too.

Vokal was also one of the participants at Google India’s first mentorship and bootcamp program called - Solve For India - that the tech giant officially launched in this year only.

"Anyone who doesn’t know English in India has a huge problem of accessing relevant answers to their questions. Their Internet experience is poor with a dearth of meaningful content. We’re building a peer-to-peer content network that can cater to their information & knowledge needs," said Aprameya Radhakrishna, co-founder and CEO, Vokal.

On the talent front, Radhakrishna said, “We are 35 people and will keep it a tight team for the foreseeable future, not exceeding 50.”

“Language diversity is an Indian problem and Vokal is building India-specific solutions to cater to the information and knowledge needs for the non-English users. We are happy to support Vokal’s mission of creating a destination for the vernacular audience. The market is expected to balloon to 550+ million users over the next couple of years,” Anand Daniel, Partner, Accel Partners added.

Vokal is a few months old and already boasts of 200000+ questions with 1000s of questions pouring in everyday on varied topics. It also has a live video streaming feature where experts share their knowledge with users.

Vokal is currently available in Hindi and is launching in multiple languages in the next few months, the statement added.

In March, a report by IAMAI and Kantar IMRB said that 205 million new internet users would come online if content is available in Indian languages, which will be key motivation of using internet for people who are not using it, said

Mayank Bidawatka, co-founder, Vokal said, “India is one of the few countries with such a large language diversity. The Indian vernacular segment is poised to be almost twice the size of the United States. Their Internet experience is broken with basic translation widgets available as solutions for their information and knowledge needs. We are creating a product grounds-up that they can use everyday."

To recall, Vokal has recently acqui-hired StupidChat Technologies, a quizzing app startup, in an all-stock deal, in May this year.

Commenting on the Vokal deal, Tuck Lye Koh, Partner and CEO, Shunwei Capital said, “India is a large market and the language Internet users are underserved today. We are bullish on Vokal’s ability to create an information and knowledge platform to cater to this segment of users.”

Recent Investment in Vernacular Segment

Last year in May, Kalaari Capital owned seed program, Kstart Capital, had invested an undisclosed amount in Vernacular.ai, a broad-based engagement platform for a billion Indians using AI to address needs of people who can be reached only through vernacular languages.

Last August, Delhi-based B2C vernacular podcast aggregator platform Funcastic raised seed funding from a startup accelerator launched by HT Media Ltd and US-based investment firm North Base Media.

Shunwei Capital & Its India Investments

Founded in 2011 by Tuck Lye Koh and Lei Jun, Beijing-based Shunwei Capital is a venture capital fund focused primarily on early- to mid-stage investments in China’s internet industry and manages over 2 billion in US dollars across five funds. The VC firm seeks to invest in the technology, media, telecommunications, high technology, new media, games, internet finance, and rural area internet sectors.

Shunwei has increased its investment portfolio in India in the past few years. Last July, It led $1 million seed round of Clip App, a Bengaluru-based digital media video startup. Prior to this, it also invested $3M in Series A funding of Truebil, an India's only curated, authentic and verified marketplace for pre-owned cars.

It also led a $6.25 million (Rs 43 crore) funding round for Pune-based online lending startup LoanTap, and participated in a $30 million Series B round raised by Cheche365.com, an auto insurance search engine, in November last year that was led by China Capital Group Ltd. A month before that, Shunwei along with Xiaomi Technologies led an $8 million Series A round for Bangalore-based microlending platform KrazyBee.

TaxiForSure Co-founder’s Vernacular Platform Vokal Raises $5 Mn from China’s Shunwei Capital

Vokal, a peer-to-peer (P2P) knowledge-sharing platform in Indian Languages, has announced that it has raised $5 million in a Series A round of funding lead by China’s Shunwei Capital, and new investor 500 startups.

The financing round also saw participation from existing investors Accel India and Blume Ventures, it said in a statement.

Notably, Vokal was co-founded by Aprameya Radhakrishna, who is one of co-founders of cab hailing, TaxiForSure, which got acquired by its bigger rival Ola in 2015.

In the same year, Radhakrishnan co-founded Vokal along with Mayank Bidawatka. In Feb. 2016, the startup raised it first funding of $2 million from Blume Ventures and Accel, who had invested in TaxiForSure too.

Vokal was also one of the participants at Google India’s first mentorship and bootcamp program called - Solve For India - that the tech giant officially launched in this year only.

"Anyone who doesn’t know English in India has a huge problem of accessing relevant answers to their questions. Their Internet experience is poor with a dearth of meaningful content. We’re building a peer-to-peer content network that can cater to their information & knowledge needs," said Aprameya Radhakrishna, co-founder and CEO, Vokal.

On the talent front, Radhakrishna said, “We are 35 people and will keep it a tight team for the foreseeable future, not exceeding 50.”

“Language diversity is an Indian problem and Vokal is building India-specific solutions to cater to the information and knowledge needs for the non-English users. We are happy to support Vokal’s mission of creating a destination for the vernacular audience. The market is expected to balloon to 550+ million users over the next couple of years,” Anand Daniel, Partner, Accel Partners added.

Vokal is a few months old and already boasts of 200000+ questions with 1000s of questions pouring in everyday on varied topics. It also has a live video streaming feature where experts share their knowledge with users.

Vokal is currently available in Hindi and is launching in multiple languages in the next few months, the statement added.

In March, a report by IAMAI and Kantar IMRB said that 205 million new internet users would come online if content is available in Indian languages, which will be key motivation of using internet for people who are not using it, said

Mayank Bidawatka, co-founder, Vokal said, “India is one of the few countries with such a large language diversity. The Indian vernacular segment is poised to be almost twice the size of the United States. Their Internet experience is broken with basic translation widgets available as solutions for their information and knowledge needs. We are creating a product grounds-up that they can use everyday."

To recall, Vokal has recently acqui-hired StupidChat Technologies, a quizzing app startup, in an all-stock deal, in May this year.

Commenting on the Vokal deal, Tuck Lye Koh, Partner and CEO, Shunwei Capital said, “India is a large market and the language Internet users are underserved today. We are bullish on Vokal’s ability to create an information and knowledge platform to cater to this segment of users.”

Recent Investment in Vernacular Segment

Last year in May, Kalaari Capital owned seed program, Kstart Capital, had invested an undisclosed amount in Vernacular.ai, a broad-based engagement platform for a billion Indians using AI to address needs of people who can be reached only through vernacular languages.

Last August, Delhi-based B2C vernacular podcast aggregator platform Funcastic raised seed funding from a startup accelerator launched by HT Media Ltd and US-based investment firm North Base Media.

Shunwei Capital & Its India Investments

Founded in 2011 by Tuck Lye Koh and Lei Jun, Beijing-based Shunwei Capital is a venture capital fund focused primarily on early- to mid-stage investments in China’s internet industry and manages over 2 billion in US dollars across five funds. The VC firm seeks to invest in the technology, media, telecommunications, high technology, new media, games, internet finance, and rural area internet sectors.

Shunwei has increased its investment portfolio in India in the past few years. Last July, It led $1 million seed round of Clip App, a Bengaluru-based digital media video startup. Prior to this, it also invested $3M in Series A funding of Truebil, an India's only curated, authentic and verified marketplace for pre-owned cars.

It also led a $6.25 million (Rs 43 crore) funding round for Pune-based online lending startup LoanTap, and participated in a $30 million Series B round raised by Cheche365.com, an auto insurance search engine, in November last year that was led by China Capital Group Ltd. A month before that, Shunwei along with Xiaomi Technologies led an $8 million Series A round for Bangalore-based microlending platform KrazyBee.