Founder @picxele (Bootstrapped to 1M+ Users and $5M+ Revenue) | Angel Investor in 60+ Startups | Podcast, Content, Creative and More
Bengaluru, India
Joined March 2013
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This Podcast is 3 Hours 40 Mins long, and I recorded straight for 7 hours with 1 hour of a break in Between.
One fine Sunday, I invited 13 Friends of mine, including Startup Founder, Creators, Community Managers, Agency Owners and Team Members. Covering aspects of
--- growing startups 0-1
--- enabling communities and events
--- service industry and challenges
--- content creation on instagram
--- growing linkedin account as a founder
--- work life balance
--- importance of fitness and team
That day, we didn't just record an episode; everyone got to speak and interact with each other, and we also ranted, laughed and discussed the on-ground problems
Watch the Full Episode Here youtu.be/3iQF0Cq1nkI
Kerala, see you at Huddle Global 2026!
I'll be attending Huddle Global in Kovalam, where founders, investors and the startup ecosystem come together from 12-14 November 2026 at The Leela Raviz Kovalam, Kerala.
Looking forward to meeting founders, hearing what they're building and catching up with people from the ecosystem.
If you're attending too, let's catch up :-)
#HuddleGlobal2026 #KeralaStartupMission #Startups #AngelInvesting
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2017-2018 ➡️ Chennai, College & Hostel
2019 ➡️ 6 Seater Room in Noida
2020-2021 ➡️ Asansol WFH
2022-2024 ➡️ Bengaluru WFH & Cafes
2025-2026 ➡️ 60 Seater Office
2027 ➡️ 100 Seater Office
If you think things happen Quickly, by Luck and or by Begging
NEVER, and its 10 Years...🧿🧿 – at Anekal Bangaluru, India
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I have my sympathy for Airport Ground Crew, they call the Passengers for Zone 2 but 80% of Zone 1 and 3 Stands in the queue
Its frustrating, but they cannot show the frustration, which makes them strong :-) – at Mahira, India
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Middle Class stays Middle Class because 90% of them thinks about Saving Money and end up spending that on things which makes no sense :-) – at Pangachhiya, India
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The amount of pressure i went through in last 14 days for marriage is Insane 🫠 – at Dhanbad, India
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Somewhere between lunch and the next meeting, millions of Indians watched a betrayal, a secret marriage and a cliffhanger. All in episodes barely a minute long.
@eloeloapp Group just raised $80M in Series C for exactly that habit, led by Hornbill Capital and @NBCUniversal.
$130M raised in total.
I've been trying to make sense of why this space suddenly feels inevitable.
Sensor Tower counted 850M+ downloads of short drama apps in a single quarter this year, and Omdia expects micro dramas to be a $14Bn global industry by end of 2026.
Then you notice @story_tv_asia was the only micro drama app in India's Top 10 most-downloaded apps in Q2, across categories - and it stops feeling sudden.
The numbers behind it: 40M+ MAU and 300M+ installs across the EloElo portfolio. Story TV puts out a new drama every 3 hours and holds viewers for 95 minutes every day.
As an investor, what I'd actually care about is this: EloElo owns all three layers - the content, the distribution, and the AI production engine underneath with @trydolphinai.
Anyone can ride a trend.
Owning the machinery behind it is a different business.
A format a lot of people dismissed is now travelling from India to the US, with one of Hollywood's biggest studios behind it.
Congratulations @saurabheloelo and the entire EloElo team! – at Tundi, India
"You don't need to know how it's going to happen. You just need to believe that it will. The universe loves a stubborn heart that refuses to give up hope"
- Shri Krishna’s quote from Bhagavad Gita
Today, EloElo group has raised $80 Mn in our Series C, led by Hornbill Capital and NBCUniversal , with MIT Investment Management Company, Play Ventures, Kalaari Capital, WaterBridge Ventures & Griffin also doubling down in the round 🚀🚀
In hindsight, if I could send one message to the version of me who started this in 2020, it wouldn’t be about strategy.
It would be: stay in the game, keep at it, this is like playing chess not checkers.
Because building a company isn’t won by the smartest player or the one who runs the fastest lap.
It’s won by the last one standing. It is like a game or a backyard ultra marathon where the winner is the one who just refuses to quit
We stood through pre-revenue, when belief was our only asset.
We stood through first revenue, which taught us more than any deck ever did.
We stood through scaling, which humbled us.
And we’re standing now through scaling profitably, which is the level that separates enduring companies from the rest .
Each level cost something.
Sleep. Certainty. A little more grey hair every year 😅
Nobody tells you that being a founder is mostly about choosing which pain is worth it, and then carrying it without letting the team see the weight.
And I didn’t carry it alone.
To our investors: you backed an idea before it had numbers, and you backed it again when it did.
To my leaders: half of the battle is won by just showing up, and you didnt just show up - you owned outcomes
To my team: you built every version of this company and deserve all the success!
Where we stand today:
$130 Mn raised to date.
Over 40 million users monthly active on our platforms.
Revenue up multifold, with unit economics that are profitable.
A new drama on Story TV App (By EloElo group) every three hours.
To Hornbill Capital, NBCUniversal - Thank you for backing our vision 🩷
To all our existing investors: thank you for standing with us.
Apna time aayega, we said in 2020.
Apna time aa gaya 🔥
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Happy Diwali to all and may Lord Ram shower Blessings and Love on Everyone.
PS: But not Alcohols & Poker. – at Pangachhiya, India
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Right or Wrong. Good or Bad. Failure or Success.
I only pre-ordered this because someone is taking the initiative to challenge Global Tech. We often say the US has done this or that, but when someone from our country does the same, you know it.
Cheers, @deepigoyal @temple
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How Life Changes at Home vs. Bengaluru
Coming to my hometown from a city like Bengaluru is a 360-degree turn. I am from Asansol, a Tier 3 City in West Bengal, but when I come back here, the kid inside me jumps every day.
From buying groceries from a nearby store, which is 50 metres away and sitting in the store and speaking about Politics with Ganguly Da hits different (this time the conversation lasted 2 hours as the government got changed after 15 years); this level of fun can never be matched by eating 4 Pani Puri at 10 INR and asking for Sukha Puri in the end since it's not mandatory here like in Bengaluru; this is pure joy.
But above all, the mornings at home are supreme. I don't get agitated anymore when mummy comes to my room at 7 AM, sits beside me, and keeps using her phone to watch reels and suddenly says, "dekh yeh sab karne se yeh hota hai"; I just stay calm and say nothing. Hearing my grandmother chant is a blessing.
Whether anyone agrees or not, we leave Heaven for a better life, stay in the metro city, and still miss all this. When I talk to my Father and Uncle about business, nuksaan, udhaar, and how things change with Digital coming in, they ask me, "dekh yeh kya message aaya hai, pata karo iske baare mein".
Their happiness at sharing things and knowing that I have also taken office and that 40 people work with me, and seeing my pictures, makes them feel proud.
But deep down, be it me or my Father, Mother, Dadi or uncle, we both want to stay with each other, yet we all know that, as of today, it is not possible, but we also know that their Son will stay with them, be it any city, in the coming years.
Today, who I am, what I am, is only because of my late grandfather and then I have grown up seeing my Father and Uncle, and all those business ethics somehow got transferred from not keeping Udhaar to not thugging someone while staying away from Illegal Business; all this is inherited.
We think we don't inherit; we do, and it's our Dharma to carry forward what our grandfather, father, and uncle taught us in a good way.
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Usually, at events, People come to exchange cards and disappear.
We will not allow anyone to exchange cards during the Summit; we will not allow anyone to bring cards to the Venue.
Hardly 1% of deals close by exchanging cards, and that's the most Irrelevant thing I see at large events.
We will host 400 Leaders for the first time, including B2B founders and leaders from both the buy and sell sides, along with operators and investors. Try setting up meetings through a chatbot beforehand, then let them have the conversation and exchange phone numbers.
Just "Hi/Hello" and exchanging cards won't help. Our job is to put them in front of each other, with 1:1 meetings scheduled in advance so the right conversations actually happen.
We have @serri_ai @_bluSwap @FastFlowPe @UNLOXACADEMY as confirmed exhibitors; we have 16 More Slots for exhibitors, followed by 2 Co-powered partners, and we will even curate the attendees.
🌍 Bengaluru | March 2027 (exact dates to be announced)
🚀 Express Interest for B2B Enterprise Summit - b2bsummit.in/
Diwali is Celebrated since Ramji came back to Ayodhya, and people do Puja, Decorate Homes, keep Fast and take Blessings from Elders.
What I am seeing in my feed since last 5 years is Diwali Party which has Alcohol, Poker, Pool Dance and random stuffs.
Not against Alcohol or Party, but completely against using the word "Diwali" for such auspicious occasion.
Happy Diwali 🪔🙏
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Exactly 4 Years ago, during Diwali, I invested in this company, and after 4 years, this has become one of the giants in this space.
In Oct 2022, @The_SaadJamal and I had no idea where this would go; Saad's politeness and conviction convinced me to invest.
The initial years were tough, as the team was very young and even today they are young, with an average age of 25 years, but now selling and working with enterprises like @masaischool, @paisawapas, @Apollo24x7 |and more.
Being an Investor, I also help them in whatever capacity possible in terms of Business. I hardly used their dashboard because I wasn't using WhatsApp as a channel extensively, but now, for sending notifications for meetups via The Ecosystem Community and for the B2B Enterprise Summit, I've started using it often.
I was amazed by one feature: Heatmaps, where you, as a marketer or Salesperson, can see who has read your messages frequently and how fast they read them, giving you a different level of understanding of your users and how you can scale and double down on your numbers.
And this is honestly insane; I became a fan, and I was so happy that after 4 years, this small investment has become so big in terms of value creation.
I won't say enough, but if you want to run any campaign on WhatsApp, use @serri_ai 💙
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Rishav Agarwal | Picxele retweeted
Storytelling is something that has always been human. The purest form of entertainment. Despite social media, and all the clutter, People are searching for it. Still interested in simple stories told well. Interest is exponential. It’s attracting huge capital now. That is the real story behind EloElo's $80M Series C. Nearly 760 crores.
The audience spoke first, and the capital followed.
Over the past year, India has been searching for Story TV more and more. Interest has climbed steadily, and it now leads its space by a clear margin. No one announced this. India simply decided.
Search bars do not lie. They are the honest ballot box of a billion people.
Story TV is carrying a baton now. Our stories, told in our languages, made by our own people, are finding a stage big enough to take India to the world. And a nation that champions its creators is right behind it.
This is how a country becomes the global storytelling capital. Not with declarations. With millions of Indians choosing their own stories, every single day.
The world taught us to watch. Now the world will watch us. 🇮🇳
"You don't need to know how it's going to happen. You just need to believe that it will. The universe loves a stubborn heart that refuses to give up hope"
- Shri Krishna’s quote from Bhagavad Gita
Today, EloElo group has raised $80 Mn in our Series C, led by Hornbill Capital and NBCUniversal , with MIT Investment Management Company, Play Ventures, Kalaari Capital, WaterBridge Ventures & Griffin also doubling down in the round 🚀🚀
In hindsight, if I could send one message to the version of me who started this in 2020, it wouldn’t be about strategy.
It would be: stay in the game, keep at it, this is like playing chess not checkers.
Because building a company isn’t won by the smartest player or the one who runs the fastest lap.
It’s won by the last one standing. It is like a game or a backyard ultra marathon where the winner is the one who just refuses to quit
We stood through pre-revenue, when belief was our only asset.
We stood through first revenue, which taught us more than any deck ever did.
We stood through scaling, which humbled us.
And we’re standing now through scaling profitably, which is the level that separates enduring companies from the rest .
Each level cost something.
Sleep. Certainty. A little more grey hair every year 😅
Nobody tells you that being a founder is mostly about choosing which pain is worth it, and then carrying it without letting the team see the weight.
And I didn’t carry it alone.
To our investors: you backed an idea before it had numbers, and you backed it again when it did.
To my leaders: half of the battle is won by just showing up, and you didnt just show up - you owned outcomes
To my team: you built every version of this company and deserve all the success!
Where we stand today:
$130 Mn raised to date.
Over 40 million users monthly active on our platforms.
Revenue up multifold, with unit economics that are profitable.
A new drama on Story TV App (By EloElo group) every three hours.
To Hornbill Capital, NBCUniversal - Thank you for backing our vision 🩷
To all our existing investors: thank you for standing with us.
Apna time aayega, we said in 2020.
Apna time aa gaya 🔥
We always think countering people perspective on Internet will make us win, but best is to ignore them, thats the actual win. – at Pangachhiya, India
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Never thought layoffs could be this cool...
But @canva made it look so awesome, and it's another reason I will renew Canva for the 8th Consecutive year, no matter what new tool hits the market.
1,271 people, about 22% of its workforce, will lose their jobs, move into new roles, or relocate to Sydney.
But the most interesting part is below, and it blew my mind when I read it.
-- MacBooks & Laptops: Laid-off employees can keep their company-issued MacBooks so they have a device for job hunting.
-- Severance Pay: Everyone affected receives at least 6 months' salary (including statutory entitlements) regardless of their location.
-- Equity: Canva is removing the 1-year vesting cliff for staff who joined in the past year, allowing them to keep their equity.
-- Healthcare & Support: Up to 12 months of continued healthcare coverage and family access to Canva Care (EAP) for a year.
-- Career & Networking: A 1-year LinkedIn Premium subscription, 1-on-1 career coaching, resume and interview help, plus an opt-in alumni talent directory.
-- Canva Collective Fund: A $10,000 grant program for affected employees who want to start their own business or community project (with Canva taking no equity).
Layoffs are hard, but if they happen for the right reason and with better terms, they can make life a bit easier for people who get laid off.
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