[Funding alert] TikTok rival Chingari raises $1.3M in seed funding

Indigenous short video-sharing app Chingari, which came into fame following the government’s ban on 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok, has raised a funding of $1.3 million in a seed round.

The round was led by venture capitalists, including AngelList India, Utsav Somani's iSeed, Village Global, LogX Ventures, and Jasminder Singh Gulati of NowFloats.

The company said the funding would be used to hire more talent to accelerate product development, ramp up the platform, and make it more engaging and consumer focussed, and engage a larger consumer base by offering a seamless short video entertainment experience.

ALSO READ

Video sharing startup Chingari plans to ramp up hiring amid growth spurt

"We are happy to have amazing investors like AngelList India, Utsav Somanis iSeed, Village Global and its amazing network of entrepreneurs and global leaders, LogX Ventures and some reputed angels," co-founder and CEO of Chingari App Sumit Ghosh said.

"We're delighted that investors saw the immense potential in our vision and chose to join the Chingari journey," he added.

Chingari, which has a 25-million strong user base and more than three million daily active users, recently emerged as the top winner in the "Social" category of "Aatmanirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge" with a prize money of Rs 20 lakh. The Twitter alternative Koo app was also one among the winners in the same category.

Following the Indian government’s ban on 59 Chinese apps in June, the country is being swept by a wave of ‘Made-in-India’ products and services.

The Aatmanirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge, launched by PM Narendra Modi on July 4, was aimed at identifying the best Indian apps that are already being used by citizens and have the potential to scale and become world class apps in their respective categories.

The app innovation initiative, which received nearly 7,000 entries from tech entrepreneurs and startups across the country, saw 24 winners in nine categories following a day-long LIVE hackathon.