Meta takes further step into South Asia with investment in trading platform
Metaplanet VC one of a number of investors in rapidly growing startup Better Opinions that has raised $25m in funding
Meta’s VC arm, Metaplanet, has invested in Indian trading startup Better Opinions, bringing its total funding to $2.5m(£xxx) so far.
It would become Meta’s third venture into the South Asian market, following investments in clothing and accessories site Meesho in 2019 and learning portal Unacademy in 2020.
Other investors who took part in the latest seed round include startup accelerator company YCombinator, early-stage investors Taurus VC, Original Capital, Super Capital and Tremis Capital.
The company purports to be a “platform that seeks to be the stock market of opinions”. It allows users to use real cash to trade on a number of various categories to earn money.
Customers are provided with dashboard of questions and are encouraged to make their decision as to the outcomes.
Some examples have included predicting the number of wickets that will fall in a session of cricket or, more controversially, the number of people to contract Covid-19 in India by a certain date.
Since launch, the app’s original premise of trading on “yes” or “no” outcomes have evolved to include polls where customers can trade on multiple results. Within six months the site has amassed over 600,000 users and covered over 14,000 events.
The funds raised will be used to build and expand the tech team and increase marketing and the platform.
Soumyajit Das, co-founder and CTO of Better Opinions, said: “Some of our investors’ portfolio companies include The Boring Company, TikTok, Reddit and Binance. It’s heartwarming to see such investors having faith and belief in our product and team.”
Rauno Milijand, managing partner at Metaplanet, said that Better Opinions is aiding the “financial literacy” of its customers.
He said: “Better Opinions developed and operated real cash prediction market is contributing greatly to increasing critical and accountable decision-making abilities.
“It is rare to see ventures having a positive impact on epistemic hygiene while also appealing to the mass market – Better Opinions is one of few.”