Indian short-video platform Chingari raises over $19 million in an extened series A funding round. The startup plans to use the fund to build its own crypto token called ‘$GARI’ on Solana blockchain.
The Series A funding round witnessed participation from around 30 crypto firms, including Republic Crypto, Galaxy Digital, Alameda Research, Solana Capital, Valor Equity Partners and others.
“While Crypto experiences a rapid expansion in India, $GARI is poised to make it mainstream. We are infusing the two, through robust strategies and incorporation of the most-promising industry advances.”
Sumit Ghosh, CEO and Co-founder of Chingari
Since its redesign in June 2020, many new apps such as Chingari, Roposo and Trell worked to fill the vacuum created by TikTok’s ban in India.
Chingari
Launched in 2018, Chingari is one of India’s leading short-videos sharing platforms with over 78 million downloads and 30 million monthly active users.
The app was founded by Sumit Ghosh, Biswatma Nayak, and Deepak Salvi. Chingari app was rebranded and redesigned in June 2020. Through this app, users upload videos in more than 20 Indian languages.
In July 2020, many new apps like Roposo, Trell, and Chingari tried to fill the gap that when the Indian government banned TikTok (with 59 other Chinese apps).
Chingari To Leverage Tokenized System For Future Growth
The latest funding comes mainly from crypto firms which clearly shows that the short video startup is all set to enter into crypto ecosystem to boost up its growth.
Raj Gokal, COO of Solana Labs, said:
“Collective ownership of social platforms like Chingari has the potential to upend the creator-platform relationship and unlock new monetisation models for creators.”
“The Solana blockchain’s high throughput, low transaction fees, and fast finality make it a great foundation for platforms targeting global adoption,” he added.
Chingari plans to use the funds to test blockchain live, Chingari integration beta and the upcoming $GARI token sale.
The token is a critical piece of the platform, enabling creators to set up their own e-commerce space that includes physical merchandise, their Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs) creations, and the ability for fans to fund their favourite artists.
India is witnessing strong crypto adoption and the changing stance of government is also making startups to explore blockchain to design new offerings and create new business models.