On its seventh anniversary, YourStory, one of our (sort of) competitors and a platform featuring stories about entrepreneurship, has raised funding from a group of investors which includes Ratan Tata, Vani Kola of Kalaari Capital, T V Mohandas Pai and Karthee Madasamay of Qualcomm Ventures.
The financial details (speculated to be around $3 Million) regarding the deal haven’t been made public. Along with the announcement of this funding round, the company has also announced that it will soon launch a new platform that will “empower” everyone to write, talk and view their own stories in their own languages using a mobile phone, pretty much on how Tech In Asia pivoted its model post its recent $4 Million round.
YourStory was founded by Shradha Sharma in 2008. The work for the website started in the month of August but the website went live in September. She bootstrapped the company for seven years. The company now has a team of more than 18 people working for it.
Explaining why she decided to raise funding, Shradha Sharma, Founder and Chief Editor of YourStory, said,
I decided to take external funding because I realised I needed a strong wind beneath my wings if I were to achieve my vision of making every story matter. And I was clear that I wanted people who believed in the same values and principles to be part of this story.
I am fortunate and grateful that I found them. It is with the greatest joy that I share the news that Ratan Tata, Vani Kola (Kalaari Capital), Karthee Madasamy (Qualcomm Ventures) and T V Mohandas Pai have invested in YourStory.
Since its inception, YourStory has profiled more than 15,000 entrepreneur stories. The platform claims to have reached 60 million readers till date, from India and across the world.
As is the case with almost every digital media brand across the globe, YourStory too hosts several conferences every year. YourStory’s conferences for entrepreneurs include TechSparks, MobiSparks, E-Sparks, WebSparks, EduStars, Cloud Conclave, Startup Jobs Fair, Sociopreneurship and various other meetups and workshops.
