SucSEED Indovation Fund, Shark Tank Invests in Afthonia Lab Incubated Funngro’s pre-seed round

Funngro, a platform that offers teenagers an opportunity to earn money through real-life freelancing projects, has raised an undisclosed amount in the pre-seed round at Shark Tank India.

Funngro raised funds from Shark Tank judges—Amit Jain, CarDekho’sfounder, and Emcure Pharmaceuticals Namita Thapar. Early-stage investment firm SucSeed Indovation Fund also participated in the round.

Founded by two seasoned professionals with great mix of technology and business experience, Payal Jain, and Anik Jain, Funngro empowers Teenagers providing them with paid freelancing opportunities. It aims to teach economic empowerment among teenagers early on so that they are ready to face the work environment in the future and find their true passion.

Speaking on the investment, Vikrant Varshney, Co-Founder & Managing Partner of SucSEED Indovation Fund, said, “Funngro is India’s first Teenlancerprogram focused on empowering Indian teens to learn, earn and manage their financial welfare. India has a sizable population of adolescents, and this vast population now has access to technology and skills in tier 1 and tier 2 cities and is looking for increased opportunities. India’s freelance community is projected to grow to $20-30 billion by 2025, and the forecast suggests that the online freelance marketplace could add $2.7 trillion to the global GDP by 2025. We feel Funngro could be the go-to platform for all things to learn and earn and manage finances for teenagers in the country. It aims to acquire 5.5 million users in the next three years.”

On her investment, Namita Thapar said,"The teens of today are ready to take on the world. Funngro provides them with a platform where they can learn and earn. Let's empower and support them!"

To this Amit Jain added, “India’s future is in the hands of the next generation. I am excited to work with Funngro in the mission of helping youngsters find their true calling. I strongly believe that real learning comes with the experience of dealing with real-world scenarios and am excited to create an impact on 20 crore youngsters.”

Funngro, incubated at India’s first fintech incubator Afthonia Lab in 2021, plans to use the funds to on product development, and step up its marketing activities to onboard more and more teenlancers (teen freelancers).

Tanul Mishra, Founder of Afthonia Lab,said, “When we incubated Funngro, their vision was to create a Teenlancer program that imparted India's young and untapped financial knowledge and wisdom. A completely untapped and growing segment and this vision made us back them. Funngro is helping teens get their first pay cheques.”

At the fundraiser, Funngro’s Founder Payal Jain said, “Funngro's vision is to ensure that each Teenager identifies their passion and makes it their profession. It needed a large platform like Shark Tank for greater reach to our target audience. Funngro and Shark Tank have a common mission of introducing teenagers to new employment choices, encouraging them to pursue entrepreneurial objectives, teaching business skills, enhancing their financial literacy, and inculcating critical thinking.”