Koo Co-Founder Mayank Bidawatka Secures $4M for Billion Hearts

Mayank Bidawatka, Co-founder of the Indian Twitter substitute Koo, has raised $4 million for his new business, Billion Hearts Software Technologies, in a seed fundraising round. According to a statement from the company, Blume Ventures led this fundraising round, with General Catalyst and Athera Venture Partners also participating. 

This seed round follows an earlier angel funding of $250,000 from prominent names in the startup ecosystem, including Phanindra Sama (ex-co-founder of redBus), Ankit Bhati (ex-co-founder of Ola), Raveen Sastry (ex-co-founder of Myntra), and Piyush Shah (Co-founder, InMobi Group). The angel round also saw participation from venture capitalists and tech leaders such as Darshit Vora (Acherman Capital), Vibhore Sharma (Capital 2B), Nithin Chandra (Facebook), and Bhaskar Raju (Rattle), among others.

Sharing his fundraising experience on LinkedIn, Bidawatka emphasized the importance of aligning with investors who resonate with the company’s vision. “I’ve always believed that a strong board is as important a pillar as the product, the market, and the team. During the fundraise, we cared more about the color of the money than the money itself. We cared about how a prospective investor felt about the company and the product’s vision more than the size of their fund.”

He also revealed that Billion Hearts turned down investments from funds that did not share their vision, prioritizing strategic alignment over monetary value.

Billion Hearts is currently working on a digital consumer product designed for a global audience. While details remain under wraps, the first product is expected to launch its beta version within a few months.
The product aims to address a universal use case for smartphone users across all age groups and is expected to leverage deep tech solutions to tackle this challenge.

Blume Ventures’ Partner Karthik Reddy highlighted the ambition of the startup: “Billion Hearts aims to create digital products for a global user base. While the product is still in stealth, it deals with a wide use case that’s relevant for all smartphone users around the world.”

To empower its team, Billion Hearts has allocated a 25% ESOP pool, underscoring its commitment to rewarding the team that contributed to its foundation.

Mayank Bidawatka’s latest venture signals his continued commitment to innovation in the digital space. With support from top-tier investors and a vision to create impactful global solutions, Billion Hearts is a startup to watch.

Stay tuned for more updates as Billion Hearts prepares to unveil its groundbreaking product.

Also Read: