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Brian H. Axelrad
Partner | Board of Directors
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Client Success: Social Storytelling Platform PechaKucha Raises $2.7M in Seed Funding

06/29/2021
A Man dressed in a black business suit and tie.
Brian H. Axelrad
Partner | Board of Directors
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HMB would like to congratulate PechaKucha, a social storytelling platform that has been used by millions of people across the globe, and CEO and Co-founder Sean Smyth and the rest of the PechaKucha team on a $2.7 million Seed funding round.

PechaKucha, based in Chicago and Tokyo, is a fast-growing storytelling platform used by millions of people across the globe. Content creators, schools, businesses and government agencies worldwide license PechaKucha's "20 images x 20 seconds" platform to share visual stories, information and concepts for inspired action. PechaKucha community organizers host live events in more than 1,250 cities in 140 countries, with thousands of individual creators using PechaKucha's social storytelling platform for digital talks, sessions and chats.

"Whether in person or online, people desire to connect with others in uplifting and inspiring ways. PechaKucha provides meaningful sharing through real-world and digital talks, sessions and chats that leave people feeling motivated to do great things – for themselves and the world," said Sean Smyth, CEO and Co-founder, PechaKucha. "Our social storytelling platform keeps engagement authentic, human, and concise – with time as our superpower."

Coinciding with the Covid-19 pandemic, PechaKucha launched a virtual storytelling platform that grew to over 100,000 beta users within nine months. Users can produce and share recorded content, host live events online and offline, and build communities about popular and niche topics. PechaKucha plans to scale headcount across product design, software development, and marketing to build new video and mobile capabilities, extend social connectivity features including group chat, enhance event hosting functions including ticketing and CRM, and grow its community of content creators.

PechaKucha was represented by HMB’s Venture Capital and Emerging Companies Team, led by Corporate Partners Brian H. Axelrad and Corporate Associates Raymond J. Jacobi III and Payal J. Patel.

Read the full press release by PR Newswire here.

Learn more about HMB’s Venture Capital and Emerging Companies practice here.

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