Creator tech platform Hypd secures $ 1.5 million in seed round

The platform gears up to accelerate creator economy in India; envisions transforming creators into creator-preneurs with topnotch VCs, creators network and sector experts

author-image
BuzzInContent Bureau
New Update
Post Thumb

Hypd Co-founders Akshay Bhatnagar (Left) and Ashwarya Garg (Right)

Creator tech platform Hypd has announced the closure of its seed funding round. The platform, that’s enabling content creators to launch their own multibrand stores/businesses, stated it has recently accrued $ 1.5 million.

The seed funding round was led by three different cohorts, like VCs, such as Better capital, Sauce VC and more; Creators/Influencer Network such as Bhuvan Bam, Tanmay Bhatt and more and the Sector Experts such as CXOs of unicorn companies.

The capital acquired will be utilised to activate 1 million content-creators, along with marketing and developmental endeavours, as per the comapny. In the past three months, creators have powered GMV of over Rs 50 lakh from their respective stores, directly earning a sizeable amount of profit, currently pegged at Rs 12 lakh (approximately).

Conceptualised with the intent to create a sustainable source of income for content creators, Hypd was founded by entrepreneur duo Ashwarya Garg and Akshay Bhatnagar in 2021.

Co-founders Ashwarya Garg and Akshay Bhatnagar, Hypd, said, “Every entrepreneur wants to be a creator, and every creator wants to be an entrepreneur. Taking cues from this prevalent tendency, Hypd is paving way for a new breed of creators called ‘Creator-Preneurs’. We are stoked to have the best cohort of early-stage funds, creators, entrepreneurs, angels in the country. These stakeholders are our ‘Hypdronauts’, set to scale the brand to newer heights. Hypd is a product at the intersection of a booming consumer D2C business and swelling influencer marketing economy. The creators are often treated as virtual billboards, but with the commoditisation of business infrastructure, any creator can transform their audience into a scalable empire. We are putting more power in the hands of the creators. Suddenly, what looked like a multi-billion-dollar opportunity, is becoming a multi-trillion-dollar one. If we have to draw an analogy, we are the Shopify-for-creators.”

The first cohort of VCs includes prominent names from the industry such as Better capital, Sauce VC, Joyance Partners and Lets Venture. This cohort is bringing in capabilities to build the strongest SaaS infrastructure that seamlessly facilitates the creators’ economy.

Manu Chandra, Founder and Managing Partner, Sauce VC, said, “Creators are emerging as a driving force for ecommerce. Ashwarya and Akshay have built a simple to use tool to allow creators to monetise their following through commerce. Agencies and influencers big and small are using Hypd to earn more meaningful commissions directly from digital brands. Brands are meanwhile benefiting by getting influencers to run not just top-of-the-funnel awareness campaigns but drive actual sales through shoppable videos and live commerce. We are excited to back Hyod and take this offering to all digital brands and creators across the globe.”

The second cluster of investors entails creators and influencers themselves. The platform has roped in the likes of Bhuvan Bam, Tanmay Bhatt, Ranveer Allahbadia and many other creators and agencies.

Investing beyond capital, these top creators and agency networks bring in the trust and expertise to better understand creators’ issues and address them. Alongside, they harness their influence to spread awareness around the fledgling creator economy and initiate conversations, inspiring more creators to turn into ‘Creator-prenuers’.  

“Every creator at some point in time has to turn into an entrepreneur to earn from what they love doing and Hypd’s business-in-a-box solution makes it so much easier for every creator out there to monetise their audience at one destination, owned by themselves,” Bam said.    

Angel investors and industry experts make for the final cohort, which includes veterans like Aditya Sehgal (ex-President Reckitt), Harish Narayan (CMO, Myntra), Revant Bhate (CEO, Mosaic Wellness), Shantanu Deshpande (CEO, Bombay Shaving Company), Ritesh Malik (Founder Innov8) and many more; who bring in the mix of business intelligence and marketing intelligence.

Their industry expertise is going to shape up the brand’s GTM strategies. Apart from capital support, this cohort will aid in creating a strong brand building tactics, strategic partnerships, and be the knowledge partner to every problem in the start-up journey. 

Creator tech platform Hypd