Lucknow based local content production startup Knocksense has raised $200,000 in an angel round of funding from Mohit Satyanand’s syndicate on Let's Venture. the round also saw participation from We Founder Circle; Neeraj Tyagi, We Founder Circle, Founder; Piyush Doshi, Faering Capital, Director; Tom Varkey, Partner, Stonehill Capital Management; Syed Faiz Hasan, Investor in Rooter; Mathew Varkey, serial investor; Simmarpal Singh, CEO India - COFCO International; Venus Dhuria, Partner, Veda.vc; and Amit Tyagi, serial investor.

The startup had earlier raised seed funding from Neelansha Dwivedi, Ex-Hindustan Times & Apple; Amitesh Pandey, serial investor & entrepreneur; and a bridge round from Mumbai Angels Network in June 2020.

Founded in 2016, Knocksense creates 20 million+ organic impressions per month. Currently the startup focuses on six Indian cities, Mumbai, Lucknow, Kanpur, Goa, Indore, and Jaipur. Knocksense is now working towards launching video stories and Hindi content, while expanding to other Indian Tier-II cities.

Speaking about the fundraise, Varul Mayank, Co-founder, Knocksense, said, “Our aim is to create a truly local channel, which brings the unorganised local ad market from offline to online, and the pandemic has certainly helped the cause. The raised funds will help us penetrate deep in the markets we are active in, and launch our subscription plan, which will strengthen user engagement and brand integration.”

Speaking about the intended nature of content at Knocksense, Vibhore Mayank, Co-Founder, Knocksense emphasized on creating engaging content, which is a mix of local news, recommendations, videos, features, and more. “When it comes to news, we are committed to producing only non-divisive stories, which don't breed negativity or sensationalism. Tier-II cities with an active millennial audience will be our target," he further added.

Mohit Satyanand, Investor said, “This fundraise is a sure-footed step towards the Knocksense vision, of a content network that is generated (hyper-) locally, and available nationally; that offers a brand-building platform for the neighbourhood salon, as much as for the global brand," said lead investor Mohit Satyanand.