Startup Originals Team
Culture, a Hyderabad-based human-first social networking platform focused on shared interests and real-time conversations, has raised ₹2 crore in seed funding from Acuvest Infra. The investment marks an early milestone for the startup as it looks to scale its product, deepen community engagement, and build a safer alternative to algorithm-driven social media platforms.
Funding to Drive Product, Community and Safety Expansion
The seed funding has been raised by ART Pvt Ltd, the parent company of Culture, and will be used to accelerate product development, expand community initiatives, and strengthen the platform’s safety-focused infrastructure. The company said the capital will help it move faster on features that prioritise meaningful interaction over passive content consumption.
Culture is positioning itself as a response to what it sees as growing dissatisfaction with traditional social media, where engagement is often driven by algorithms, follower counts, and virality rather than genuine connection.
Founder’s Vision: Connection Over Attention
Commenting on the fundraise, Anurag Rangineni, Founder and CEO of Culture, said the platform is being built to address a fundamental gap in today’s social networks.
“Social media today rewards attention, not connection,” Rangineni said. “The future of social networking lies in meaningful conversations built around shared interests, not follower counts or endless scrolling. Culture is designed to help people feel heard, not performed.”
He added that trust and safety are central to Culture’s design. “Trust is the biggest deficit in today’s digital communities. Culture is built from the ground up with safety and intent as core principles. Real communities can only grow when people feel secure enough to be themselves.”
Creator-Led ‘Spaces’ and Monetisation Strategy
A key use of the newly raised capital will be the rollout of creator-led ‘Spaces’, a feature that allows creators and community leaders to host live discussions, events, and hybrid online-offline experiences. These Spaces are expected to play a central role in Culture’s monetisation strategy.
Through Spaces, creators will be able to organise ticketed events, promote targeted experiences, and build long-term partnerships with offline venues such as cafés, clubs, and cultural spaces. The company believes this model will support sustainable creator income while keeping interactions community-led rather than algorithm-driven.
Investor Confidence in Community-Driven Platforms
A spokesperson from Acuvest Infra said the investment reflects changing user behaviour in the social media landscape.
“Users are increasingly moving away from noisy, performative platforms toward smaller, safer, and more meaningful communities,” the spokesperson said. “Culture’s focus on explicit interests, verified users, and community-driven engagement positions it well for the next phase of social networking.”
Growth Strategy and Expansion Plans
Currently in its early growth phase, Culture is expanding through college activations, café and brewery partnerships, creator collaborations, and organic community-building initiatives. The company plans to scale across major Indian cities before exploring global expansion.
Its longer-term roadmap includes premium subscriptions, creator monetisation tools, and native advertising aligned with user interests rather than intrusive feed-based ads.
How Culture Differentiates Itself
Founded by Anurag Rangineni, Culture positions itself as an alternative to both algorithm-heavy platforms and anonymous chat apps. Instead of prioritising virality, it focuses on interest-led one-on-one video interactions, verified profiles, and real-time moderation.
The platform uses AI-driven interest-based video matching, allowing users to connect around shared passions such as music, startups, travel, wellness, and creative pursuits. Strong safety measures, including phone verification, real profiles, and AI-powered moderation, are designed to automatically disconnect interactions involving harassment, nudity, or nuisance behaviour.
Culture’s vision has been shaped by lessons from earlier random chat platforms, many of which struggled to balance spontaneity with user safety. The startup aims to retain spontaneity while eliminating the risks that led to the decline of those platforms.
With fresh funding in place, Culture is betting that the next phase of social networking will be built not around algorithms, but around authentic human connection.
