Gurugram -based art social network and discovery start up, Skillbox, today announced that it has raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from leading USA based angel investor Mr. Sandip Ranjhan. The start up plans to utilise the funds to scale and strengthen the product and in marketing.
Founded in 2016 by Anmol Kukreja, Ravi Pardhi and Nitish Bhardwaj, the platform helps artists including - Musician /Bands, DJ/Producers, Session Artists, Photographers, Designers and Sketch artists- connect with enthusiasts and businesses. The live event segment in India is highly fragmented with no platform/services providing one- stop, seamless services. Artists have various requirements from publicity to landing the right gigs, technical requirements, monetization and legal issues among others. Similarly businesses are faced with the challenge of discovering and connecting with bona fide and talented artists. As a result, the entire process is non transparent, cumbersome and inefficient.
This is where Skillbox steps in to solve the problem. It is an end to end platform that addresses all the needs of an artist, whether established or upcoming and businesses alike. With its Artists Profiles section, artists can easily create visually appealing profiles and gain visibility while promoting themselves. It’s audio streaming service StreamBox, provides musicians a reliable way of showcasing their work to discerning audiences online and monetise their work. Musicians can also stream their music videos with the highest production values. Additionally, Skillbox leverages data sciences to generate insightful trend reports that help in accelerating the careers of artists.
The platform has witnessed enormous growth in 2017-18 with over 2000+ Artists and 100+ venues being connected, 1200+ gigs being facilitated and more than Rs 1cr of business generated for artists and businesses in various categories.
Commenting on the milestone, Mr. Anmol Kukreja, Co-founder and CEO, Skillbox said, “We are really pleased with the faith the investors have shown in us. This investment is a further validation of the robustness of our business model and the immense opportunity that the live event segment offers. We hope to scale rapidly and transform into a significant player over the next one year.”
Reflecting on this development, Mr. Sandip Ranjhan, Angel Investor, said, ‘ Skillbox’s platform is addressing a very unique and large market opportunity. With the excellent traction that the start-up has demonstrated since its inception, coupled with a very competent founding team, I am confident Skillbox will certainly disrupt the market.’
