MAM
KlugKlug eyes 10x growth by the end of FY 24-25
Mumbai: KlugKlug, a global SaaS platform for influencer marketing, plans to expand across India & South Asia, Southeast Asia, MENA, and Latin America, targeting 10x growth by the end of this financial year. The company has already achieved five times growth in the first two quarters of 2024.
KlugKlug’s growth is driven by a diverse client base, including electronics, FMCG, B2C companies, and e-commerce platforms. As technology adoption in influencer marketing increases, KlugKlug has become a trusted partner for brands seeking tech-driven solutions.
With over 200 clients, KlugKlug is expanding its presence in markets like Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and other key regions in the next 12 to 18 months.
“Data has become an integral part of influencer marketing to drive optimisation, transparency, and therefore compliance. Fortunately for us, brands are increasingly seeing its value and even teaming up with us. At KlugKlug, we’ve been working to help them make this transition smoother by helping brands make radically better decisions based on data and insights and see concrete numerical benefits. It has helped to work with clients and industry captains to weigh in with their inputs to build what we have and find validation of our superiority against the best in the world across all geographies, globally. We are blessed and eager to capitalise on this,” said KlugKlug co-founder & CEO Kalyan Kumar.
KlugKlug co-founder and CPO Vaibhav Gupta added, “Emboldened by our client successes across categories and sizes and geos, KlugKlug is keen to further jumpstart the expansion. We’re witnessing more CMOs and marketing professionals embrace the tech narrative as essential and not feel good in influencer marketing decisions. KlugKlug has earned the role of a trusted resource for companies – we have so many testimonials – looking to refine their strategies and see instant wins from day zero. It’s exciting and humbling to see global and local brands alike leverage KlugKlug’s to make smarter decisions and easily maximize their campaign impact.”
Digital
Anthropic eyes $900bn valuation in new funding round ahead of IPO: Reports
Claude maker may surpass OpenAI as investor interest heats up sharply
SAN FRANCISCO: Anthropic is exploring a fresh funding round that could value the company at more than $900 billion, potentially making it the world’s most valuable artificial intelligence startup, according to Bloomberg reports.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News reported that the Claude maker is in early-stage discussions with investors and is entertaining offers at more than double its current valuation. No deal has been finalised yet.
The interest marks a sharp jump from February this year, when Anthropic raised $30 billion at a valuation of $380 billion. Since then, investor appetite appears to have intensified, with multiple pre-emptive offers on the table.
According to TechCrunch, the company has received proposals to raise around $50 billion at valuations ranging between $850 billion and $900 billion. A decision is expected to be taken at a board meeting in May.
If the deal goes through at the upper end of that range, Anthropic would overtake OpenAI, which was valued at $852 billion in March, to become the most valuable AI startup globally.
The potential fundraise also comes against the backdrop of a possible initial public offering, which could be launched as early as October, the Bloomberg report noted.
The company counts tech heavyweights such as Amazon and Google, part of Alphabet, among its key backers. Both firms have continued to deepen their ties with Anthropic through multi-billion-dollar, performance-linked investments.
Interestingly, earlier reports had suggested that Anthropic was cautious about raising funds at valuations of $800 billion or more. The latest developments, however, indicate that market enthusiasm for advanced AI models and infrastructure may be shifting those thresholds quickly.
As the race for AI dominance accelerates, Anthropic’s next move could set a new benchmark for startup valuations, and signal just how high investors are willing to bet on the future of artificial intelligence.
