Student-Run Startup Plutus Raises $280k in Pre-Seed Round Led by Campus Fund

Plutus, a creator-first platform building business and financial infrastructure for creators, announced their pre-Seed round of funding from Campus Fund and other investors including CIIE – IIM Ahmedabad, Shruti (co-founder, ApnaKlub) and Alagu Preiyannan (co-founder, Bluejeans). With the fresh capital, the company plans to build new tools to expand the monetisation potential for content creators and deepen partnerships with creators and fans.

Co-founded in June 2021 by students Karata Dasmahapatra, Shivanshu Tyagi and Sambhav Jain, Plutus focuses on deepening interactions between creators and their fans through a mix of community games, both live and hypercasual. The startup claims to work with over 3,000 creators across India, along with a waitlist of more than 10,000 creators.

Unlike other platforms, Plutus has developed a pay-as-you-go structure that enables creators to earn more than they would through subscriptions or workshops, and even surpass advertiser promotions in some cases. Plutus intends to utilize the funds raised to expand its reach in India and Southeast Asia and launch a new collection of hyper-casual games and features, according to Karata Dasmahapatra, the co-founder, and CEO.

According to the company, the creator economy is growing at a CAGR of 25-30% and is one of the fastest-growing sectors today. Creators, especially micro-influencers, don’t earn a stable income through ad revenue since this largely depends on the number of views, followers and subscribers to their content. While social media platforms have evolved, their experience remains the same – creators make content, and fans consume it.

Commenting on the fundraising, Co-founder & CEO of Plutus, Karata Dasmahapatra, said:

Plutus has changed the norm by building a single platform with a two-way flow of content via live rooms, group chats, creator-led games, integrated payments and analytics. With an innovative pay-as-you-go structure, creators can earn more than subscriptions or workshops from their user base and, in some cases, more than advertiser promotions. With this fundraise, Plutus aims to expand across India and South East Asia and launch a new set of hyper-casual games and features.

Shlok Vora, Student Associate of Campus Fund and part of the Plutus deal team added:

What impressed us most is that the Plutus team has always been nimble in innovating new features for creators to connect better with their fans. The creator economy is at an inflection point, and Plutus is positioned well to become the Shopify for creators.

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