Digital media startup MangoBaaz raises $115,000 in seed funding
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Popular online platform MangoBaaz has secured major funding from a domestic investor. The startup has raised $115,000 from Fatima Ventures, a subsidiary of the Fatima Group.
MangoBaaz is one of Pakistan’s first media companies that focuses on creating digital content for its millennial audience, similar to companies such as ScoopWhoop in India, and BuzzFeed or Vice in the US.
After running it as an experiment early last year, co-founders Ali Ahsan and Ali Gul left high paying jobs in the US and started working full time on MangoBaaz in August 2015. With help from PlanX, one of Pakistan’s largest accelerators, MangoBaaz has reached over a million monthly active users on its website within just a year. Audience for its video content is also increasing at a fast pace.
MangoBaaz has now become Pakistan’s first media startup to receive funding from a venture capital firm.
Co-founder Ali Ahsan says, “The investment means that one of Pakistan’s largest companies analyzed MangoBaaz, on all business aspects and identified it as an attractive investment opportunity which serves as a significant validation of the company’s business model.” Ali Gul, the other co-founder of MangoBaaz, adds, “This investment will allow us to expand our existing operations, scale video operations and invest in more business initiatives that will diversify the services offered by MangoBaaz to both its audience and business partners.”
Read more: Local Startup Secures Domestic Funding Worth $280k
“We are very confident in the success of MangoBaaz considering the immense potential of Digital Advertising in Pakistan and exponential growth and monetizable social media content,” says Ali Mukhtar, CEO of Fatima Ventures.“We have already invested in startups from Interactive Broadcast and Beauty industries such as InteraCta and BeautyHooked. Our investment in MangoBaaz is a logical progression and strategic choice.”
In just a year, MangoBaaz’s list of clients includes global names such as Coca Cola, Nestle, Unilever, YouTube, Reckitt Benckiser, Samsung, Uber and Telenor among others. MangoBaaz has also worked with other business partners such as OMD and GroupM, the world’s largest media investment group.
Recently, MangoBaaz also launched a web portal called MangoBaaz Campus for university students in Pakistan.
This piece first appeared on MIT Technology Review Pakistan and has been reproduced with permission.
