Homegrown short video app Chingari receives $13 million funding from telecom firm OnMobile

• Through this deal, OnMobile will integrate and distribute its direct-to-consumer gaming platform on the Chingari app.
• Chingari is an Indian short video sharing platform available in more than 20 languages including English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, others.
• Last year, It had raised $1.3 million in seed funding from AngelList India, Village Global, others.

Homegrown short video app Chingari receives $13 million (about Rs 95 crore) in a funding round from Bengaluru-based mobile entertainment solution provider OnMobile in exchange for a 10% stake.

The funding round also saw participation from Republic Labs US, Astarc Ventures, White Star Capital, India TV (Rajat Sharma), JPIN Venture Catalysts, ProfitBoard Ventures, Raghunandan G of Zolve (Co-Founder of TaxiForSure), and some large family office funds from the United Kingdom.

Through this deal, OnMobile will leverage Chingari to integrate and distribute its direct-to-consumer gaming platform (ONMO) and collaborate on other mobile product integrations to serve millions of users, the statement said.

Chingari will utilize the funding to enhance its content portfolio, hiring talent, and accelerating the growth of its user base. It currently has 56 million users on its platform and aims to reach 100 million users, it said.

Prior to this round, Chingari had raised $1.3 million in a seed funding round in August 2020, led by Jasminder Singh Gulati (Co-founder NowFloats), AngelList, iSeed, Village Global, and Blume Founders Fund. To date, The company has raised over Rs 100 crore in its funding rounds.

Founded in late 2018 by Sumit Ghosh, Biswatma Nayak, and Deepak Salvi, Chingari Media operates Chingari, a short video sharing platform. Initially, it was launched as a subsidiary company of Ghosh’s IT consultancy firm Globussoft. Following the ban on TikTok, the platform witnessed a huge surge in its overall user base growth.

Commenting on the development, Sumit Ghosh, CEO of Chingari, said, “We couldn't have hoped for a better partner than OnMobile to help Chingari embody its vision and become a content super media app for Bharat, and help engage a billion Indians. With our visions aligned, this partnership promises to be a winning collaboration."

Speaking on the investment, François-Charles Sirois, Executive Chairman of OnMobile, said,  "We are very excited about this investment and partnership bringing millions of users to the new ONMO gaming service while providing immediate business value and increased user reach for both companies”.

Also Read: Indian TikTok Alternative Chingari Picks Rs10 Cr From LogX Ventures

Krish Seshadri, CEO of OnMobile, said, "The Chingari team has built a terrific product with great user retention and growth. ONMO gaming’s short format challenges and Chingari's short-form videos complement each other well."

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