Public App raises $35 mn from Lee Fixel's Addition, SIG Global and Tanglin

Investment also marks the return of Lee Fixel for backing Indian startups. He has gained a reputation as a top tech investor and is helping Tiger Global back firms such as Facebook, Spotify and Uber

Public App, a location-based social network, has secured $35 million in funding from Addition, a $1.3 billion fund set up by Lee Fixel, the former top investor at Tiger Global Management. The other investors include SIG Global and Tanglin Venture Partners.

The investment also marks the return of Fixel for investing in Indian start-ups. He has gained a reputation as a top tech investor and is helping Tiger Global to back firms such as Facebook, Spotify, Uber, Flipkart and fitness company Peloton.

Public App plans to use the funding towards rapid scaling up of tech infrastructure. It would also invest in content offerings and employee base to further speed up the growth and continue improving on retention and engagement

“We are thrilled to have this support from Addition, SIG Global and Tanglin Venture Partners in our journey towards building the world’s largest location-based social network,” said Azhar Iqubal, founder and CEO, Public App. “With more than 50 million active users and over 1 million videos being created every month on the app, Public aims to connect the local communities of Bharat and become the one-stop solution for all their local needs,” Iqubal added.

Public App is a social network for everything local - from local updates and happenings to local commerce, jobs and classifieds. The firm said political leaders, government authorities, media houses and citizen journalists use the app to connect with communities and disseminate verified and trustworthy video content. Also, local businesses like shops, astrologers, doctors, lawyers use the platform to reach out to the local consumers.

Public App was launched by Inshorts, the English news aggregator, in April 2019. Within a short span of 6 months from launch, Public became the top-ranked app on the play store in the category. The app is available in all major Indian languages including Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Assamese, Gujarati and Marathi. Public App aims to have over 100 million users by year-end and will be available in all Indian languages.