Soon after launch in India, Orkut's Hello eyes funds from local investors

Soon after launching its social network Hello in India, Orkut founder and CEO Orkut Buyukkokten now looking to raise funds from local investors.

In a recent interview with Mint, Buyukkokten confirmed that he is seeking strategic partners in the country to counter existing players. He also revealed that Hello Network currently in conversations with investors who may invest in the newly launched alternative to other social media players.

However, neither name of the investors nor any quantum of the proposed deal could be ascertained during the interview.

Since its launch, the platform has been gaining popularity which is possibly due to Buyukkokten fame and Facebook's recent controversy. Additionally, the social media has a huge popularity in Brazil and looking for the same in India, which is about seven times in terms of population.

Further, the social media platform has been hoping for a momentum shift, where it can give a fight to other players with firm foundation including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Also Read: Orkut founder is back again: Says ‘Hello, let’s connect’

Seeing the current scenario, Orkut's Hello will have to face tough competition like the other players because of Facebook's worldwide popularity and the moat it has been able to create with mammoth 2.2 billion user base globally.

Hello Network may be eyeing the recent Facebook-Cambridge Analytica controversy as a chance to thrive but facing the worst allegations ever, Facebook still has managed to maintain its charm.

The Cambridge Analytica scandal in which personal data of over 87 million Facebook users, including 500,000 Indians, was compromised, has not hit the social media platform in a significant way in terms of people deactivating their accounts. Despite the scandal, no decrease in user interaction on Facebook claims Mark Zuckerberg.

Last but not the least, Indian investors may not go with a huge investment as much as Hello would be looking for. Raising big funding is going to be a significant task for the company to survive against Facebook.