Mumbai: Bengaluru-based social networking start-up Affimity Inc. said on Wednesday it has raised $1.2 million in angel funding from a group of Silicon Valley angel Investors and founders.

The company, which was founded in 2014 by Venkata Ramana, Amar J. Singh and Parveen Mittal, is looking to use the funds to expand services in India and other countries and hire larger teams. “Our immediate plan is to provide better content and community experience as we reach out to more people. We are continuously adding channels as well as customizing each of them to suit the requirement of that particular community,” said Mittal in a statement.

Affimity allows users to focus on their passions and specific interests, filtering out irrelevant content and displaying only those posts that are relevant to the users’ interests. It currently has over 35 channels. The company aims to reach a target of 10 million global users by December 2016, with India contributing around 40% of it.

Start-ups are providing alternate social media and community-based interactive solutions to users. In 2015, some such start-ups raised early stage funding. Online community for doctors Pune-based Docplexus Online Services Pvt. Ltd raised Rs.4.6 crore from Unicorn Ventures and Austria-based ASP Consulting. Outdoor activity-based Brigge Technologies Pvt. Ltd raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from The Chennai Angels (TCA) and online network for advertising executives Kulzy Media Pvt. Ltd raised over $1 million.

[“source-Livemint”]