In a funding round headed by early-stage venture capital firm Blume Ventures, Mayank Bidawatka, co-founder of the vernacular microblogging platform Koo, has raised $4 million for his new consumer tech startup, Billion Hearts.
Athera Venture Partners and General Catalyst also participated in the round.
In September of this year, the startup closed a pre-seed round of about $250K from the founders of various companies, including Myntra, Ola, InMobi, and redBus.
Emphasizing that the team will stay small because it is focused on developing a tech-driven product, the proceeds will be utilized to expand its global workforce and improve its technology. By the beginning of next year, it also intends to increase its workforce to 15.
Sign-ups for the startup are now being accepted. Early next year, a beta version of the first product will be made available to a limited number of users. Both Android and iPhone devices will be able to use the app.
Due to a lack of interest and subsequent funding, the vernacular microblogging site Koo shut down its operations in July of this year. Although it was unsuccessful in finding a buyer, the company was also searching for a merger and acquisition deal.
