Content Publishing startup Pencil raises $1 million from Inflection Point Ventures, others

• The startup will use the funding to scale up its tech team to launch a reader app.
• In April 2019, Pencil had raised Rs 3 crore in seed funding from Mumbai Angels and SucSeed Venture Partners.
• Pencil is an online content publishing platform that allows writers to publish their work for free on its platform.

Mumbai-based content publishing startup Pencil has raised $1 million (about Rs 7.2 crore) in a pre-Series A funding round led by US-based venture capital fund SOSV, along with the participation from Inflection Point Ventures and investment management firm Artesian.

Existing investors Mumbai Angels and SucSEED also participated in the funding round. The startup will use the funding to scale up its tech team as it is working on launching its reader app, the statement said.

In April 2019, Pencil had raised Rs 3 crore in a seed funding round from Mumbai Angels, SucSEED Venture Partners, and JITO Angel Network. To date, the startup has raised over $1.5 million in funding, according to CrunchBase.

Founded in 2019 by Swarup Nanda, Pencil enables writers to publish their work for free on its platform. It also helps writers to distribute their content globally in ebook and paperback format in 60 different languages. Besides this, it also provides editing and designing services to publishers to make their work easier.

Commenting on the latest funding round, Swarup Nanda, Founder & CEO of Pencil, said, "We are on a mission to make publishing a transparent and truly digital ecosystem for authors, readers, and publishers."

"Our company aims to democratize creativity by empowering writers to become authors, improve their content, build audiences, and monetize their creative pursuits," he added.

Speaking on the investment, Ankur Mittal, Co-Founder of Inflection Point Ventures, said, "Pencil is democratizing the publishing industry and promoting a passion economy where it will make it easier and convenient for people to publish content and for that content to find not only a reader base but also OTT platforms who may be interested in converting those stories into movies and web series."

William Bao Bean, General Partner, SOSV, and Managing Director of MOX, said, "We’re in the middle of evolution in dynamic content: data will shape how people read, learn, and publish in the next decade. The publishing industry is ripe for disruption, and we cannot think of a stronger team to work with.”

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