Protonn raises $9 million in seed funding

Digital solutions provider for freelancers, Protonn, has raised $9 million in a seed round from Matrix Partners India, 021 Capital and Tanglin Venture Partners.

Prominent angel investors including Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy and Cred founder Kunal Shah also participated in the round.

Protonn allows independent professionals like lawyers, graphic designers and nutritionists to launch their businesses online, create videos, conduct live sessions, generate payment links, and track their business' financial performance.


It charges a flat monthly subscription per business owner.

Founded by former Flipkart executives Anil Goteti and Mausam Bhatt in November 2020, the platform launched its beta version on the iOS platform in the United States and will soon launch its Android and web version in India.

Goteti most recently served as the senior vice president of marketing and ads at Walmart-owned Flipkart. Bhatt was head of product management for Google Commerce (Buy on Google) and formerly held a variety of leadership positions at Flipkart.

The company will use the capital to hire more people, launch the product to market, and for product development.

“Video technology in professional settings hasn’t kept pace with advances on the consumer front pioneered by apps like Snapchat and TikTok,” Bhatt said.

“Protonn is leading that change by providing professionals with an easy way to market themselves using video and manage their business,” he added.

The company joins a growing number of startups that are providing solutions for freelancers, who are increasingly becoming part of the broader creator economy.

“The rise of the independent professional calls for new solutions and Protonn is poised to meet the market demand,” said Vikram Vaidyanathan, managing director, Matrix India.

Protonn's team of 25 people is spread across the United States, Europe and India and it plans to hire irrespective of an individual’s physical location.