Mumbai: Hood, a pseudonymous social network, has received funding of Rs 1.2 crore from the founders of  Lenskart and boAt — Peeyush Bansal and Aman Gupta — on the 40th episode of Shark Tank India Season 2.

Launched in July 2022, Hood enables users to share their thoughts, ask questions, and discuss and debate on a range of topics under a pseudonym. The platform offers a safe space for users to express themselves without the fear of being judged.

The co-founders of Hood, Jasveer Singh, Abhishek Asthana, and Deepak Kumar, appeared on Shark Tank India with the aim of introducing Hood to people across the country because of the show’s pan-India reach.

Hood co-founder & CEO Jasveer Singh said, “Shark tank has pan-India level reach, which is a step further for us in becoming a household name. Additionally, getting investors like Peeyush and Aman will be a great help in gaining a deep understanding of technology. Lastly, our appearance on Shark Tank will help us build brand credibility. We want to make Hood a household name globally.”

With plans to scale, the platform will be using the investment amount for investing in technology, hiring tech leaders, and undertaking content moderation. The platform will also introduce new features around direct messaging and ask me anything, among others. The founders want to build Hood to be the name associated with pseudonymity.

So far, the company has raised $3.2 million in a seed round from 20+ unicorn founders and some of the names are Kunal Shah, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Ashish Hemrajani, Ashneer Grover, Gaurav Gupta, and multiple other angel investors. The platform was launched in the US market as well. Its immediate goal remains to gain millions of users and launch in other global markets.