The $700Mn US-HQed VC firm SOSV has announced an undisclosed investment into video-first talent marketplace Joynt. The investment will be made through SOSV’s MOX accelerator program, which already has a fairly long history of investing in young Indian startups. Bengaluru-based family office Omphalos Ventures India also participated in the round.
Joynt is a live video platform, wherein talented professionals can create short, vertical selfie videos, sharing their offerings and asking users to pay for them. Each talent also has a single Call-to-Action button (e.g. Book a video lesson, Book a video call, etc.) to guide their client about what to do next.
“Despite having so many platforms, talents across India are still struggling to be discovered. This is because the existing platforms don’t address the issues of trust and authenticity. We bridge that gap by being video-first, not text first,” said Gaurav Tripathi, Joynt co-founder and CEO.
All offerings are paid in advance and talents get 75% of the amount within 48 hours of completing the booking. Joynt uses a transparent mechanism for dealing with talents, with no hidden cost.
Joynt is primarily looking to bank upon the success of short form video content, brought into India via TikTok. TikTok has gained immense popularity in India, and there is a never-seen-before surge in activity due to the ongoing coronavirus lockdown. Joynt sees those videos as opportunities for talented folks to get paid for their talent.
The company is expecting a surge in userbase during the current lockdown. “During the lockdown, even the best talents are staying home, turning online to connect with followers. Joynt’s mobile-first platform offers a simple, safe, and profitable solution to let talents from everywhere continue with their work, and even have their breakthrough moment.”, said the company in a prepared statement sent to The Tech Portal.
SOSV invested in 24 Indian startups from Q1 2018 to Q4 2019, making it one of the most active early-stage investors in India.
