FRND is a social media and dating application conceived and built in India that is currently in the process of a large funding round of $25 million. This capital raising, which will be the largest round in the history of the company, is drawing both new and existing investors. Indian venture capital firms Venture capital firms India Quotient (IQ) and Elevation Capital are also expected to attend, according to sources familiar with the confidential information. It is expected that the large external investor will lead the round, and that the current investors, IQ and Elevation, will also participate as the company proceeds to multiply growth multiple times over. The last phases of the process are said to be being completed, and the company anticipates that the round will be closed in the next few months.

Focus on non-metro regions in India

Harshvardhan Chhangani, Bhanu Pratap Singh Tanwar, and Hardik Bansal are the co-founders of FRND. The success and popularity of FRND could be related in large part to its strategic decision to fill a particular gap in the Indian market, namely, the needs of non-metro city users or Tier 2 and beyond.

When global dating platforms such as Tinder and Bumble are largely dependent on native language speakers and frequently serve an urban, metropolitan customer base, FRND has created a successful niche by addressing a new demographic.

The company is in an arena where several users are struggling to find solutions to fight loneliness and connect with more individuals, especially of the opposite sex. This is the basic user requirement that has driven the success of dating apps, and FRND stands to be a major beneficiary of the trend in areas where major players have not yet secured a foothold. FRND is currently trying to fill the market gap created by the bigger international companies by targeting these non-metro areas.

Financial growth and capital utilisation

This large fundraising campaign comes at a time when FRND has been achieving high financial results and growing at a good pace. The company has shown to be incredibly improving its revenue values over the last year. Its revenue has increased significantly, going up fast to ₹21 crore during the fiscal year 2023 (FY23) to ₹74 crore during FY24.

The rapid turn to profitability of the startup may be even more persuasive to investors. FRND has managed to post a profit of ₹9.4 crore in FY24. This act is a dramatic reversal of the previous fiscal year (FY23), where the company had registered losses of ₹13 crore. This change of substantial losses into a tangible increase in profit in just the span of one year could easily have been a strong catalyst, which has resulted in the present high investor attention to the ongoing 25 million dollar funding round.

The proceeds of this largest-ever funding round will be used to invest in the priority areas that will help fast-track the development of FRND and strengthen its market base. The main purpose of the $25 million is to advertise more and have many more people use the site.

The growth of the user base is at the heart of the FRND business model over the long term. The business model is simple that is, more users, more monetisation. The company intends to further penetrate its target non-metro markets by spending heavily on publicity in order to expand the overall network effect of its social networking and dating platform. This strategic investment indicates a belief in its product-market fit and a readiness to use its profitability to attain massive scale.

Conclusion

Frnd, a Made-in-India social networking and dating application that was pursuing $25 million, highlights a critical turning point in the company. The new capital will be used to focus on publicity and user acquisition; as such, FRND will be in a good position to kick-start its growth, which is why the strategy of a localized non-metro-oriented solution to loneliness and monetisation in the competitive Indian dating and social networking industry is feasible.