Chingari, which claims to have 32 million active users making it the most popular social media app in the country, has announced that it has raised $15 million in a Series A extension round.
Seen as India's answer to the now banned TikTok, the short video platform Chingari said it would use the funds to launch new in-app features and also strengthen its back-end technology and team.
Chingari is planning to unveil live-streaming, socio-commerce and audio chat features on its platform shortly. The app is also hoping to enhance its user engagement by strengthening local content portfolio with more than 20 languages on the platform.
Chingari to increase its user-base to 200 million by end of 2022
Republic Capital led the latest funding with participation from Onmobile, JPIN Venture Catalysts, Hill Harbour, Angellist, Venture Collective, Makan Family, Cowa Ventures, MVC Friends, Protocol Labs and other HNI family offices.
"This new funding will further strengthen our position and help us deliver an immersive user experience for our community," Sumit Ghosh, Co-founder and CEO, Chingari was quoted as saying in a company press statement.
Chingari claims over 110 million downloads, which amounts to a two-fold increase in its user base since April 2021. The short-video making app hopes to take its user base to 200 million by the end of this year.
Chingari allows users to create short videos and upload them on the platform to share with millions of users. Its in-built filters have been popular, and its international competitors include TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram. The app supports more than 20 Indian regional languages, in addition to English and Hindi.
Chingari recently launched a crypto token ‘$GARI' to make content monetisation more mainstream in the country. The cryptocurrency is built on the Solana blockchain, and is expected to enable content creators to monetize their videos, allowing them to earn income from the Chingari app. They can also set up their own e-commerce spaces.
The token will likely facilitate the sale of physical merchandise and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on Chingari and allow fans to fund their favorite artists. The Bengaluru-based startup said it is the first social network in India to issue crypto tokens.
