India’s short video sharing platform Chingari has raised $19 million for its token round from many prominent crypto investors, including Sam Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research, Kraken, Galaxy Digital, Solana Capital and Republic Crypto.
- Founded in 2018, Chingari is a well-known video app that has grown rapidly after popular social media platform TikTok was banned in India in June 2020. Chingari now has 30 million monthly active users and 78 million downloads, according to the company.
- The funds will be used to continue development of the Chingari platform and to launch the $GARI social token on the Solana blockchain.
- The token is a “critical piece of the platform” that will enable creators to set up their own e-commerce spaces that include physical merchandise, create NFTs and give the ability for fans to fund their favorite artists, the company said.
- “The future of a platform lies in its creators. On one side, we have an immense talent pool that needs to be explored, and rewarded with an ethical amount of monetization. On the other side, while Crypto experiences a rapid expansion in India, $GARI is poised to make it mainstream, said Sumit Ghosh, CEO of Chingari, in a statement.
- Other notable investors in the funding round include Blackpine, NGC, Coinfund, LD Capital, Borderless Capital, AU21, Cultur3 Capital, Long Term Ventures, Afton Capital, CSP DAO and more.
Read more: Indian Investments in Crypto Have Exploded: Report
