TechCrunch
Remember VYou? The video Q&A platform saw more than a million answers posted and raised $3 million in funding before shutting its consumer site down in March 2013 due to lack of user engagement. Now a new startup called Frankly has launched with a similar premise. Currently in beta with a website and apps for Android and iOS, Frankly has secured seed funding of $600,000 from Matrix Partners.
Its founders, Nikunj Jain and Abhishek Gupta, hope that Frankly will have more success than VYou for two reasons. First, the startup is based in India and hopes to take advantage of the country’s fast-growing mobile penetration rate with this week’s launch of its mobile apps.
Secondly, Jain says that there isn’t a similar platform in India for people to connect with public figures, such as government officials. Delhi’s assembly elections are expected to take place next month, and representatives from all major parties have already signed up to take questions on Frankly.
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