[Funding alert] Ekta Kapoor's ALTBalaji invests in celebrity engagement platform Tring

ALTBalaji, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Balaji Telefilms Limited, has acquired 17.5 percent stake in the online celebrity digital engagement platform Tring for an undisclosed amount.

In a statement, the company said that Tring is the market leader in the celebrity video shoutout space, and this investment values Tring at about Rs 100 crore in a short period since its launch in February 2020. Tring’s existing investors include photographer and movie producer Atul Kasbekar; Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO, Flipkart; Sujeet Kumar, CEO, Udaan; Gaurav Munjal, CEO, Unacademy; Roman Saini, Hemesh Singh, Sumit Jain, Dinesh Godara (Founding team, Unacademy), Keshav Sanghi (Ventureworks India), and Dalbir Saini (Chairman BDI Group) among others.

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Started by Akshay Saini, Rahul Saini and Pranav Chabhadia, Tring allow users to book personalised video messages, Q&A sessions, shoutouts, chat messaging, live wishes on radio, and other engagement services with their favourite celebrities from various genres viz movie stars, TV stars, musicians, sports personalities, youth icons, influencers, etc.

Ekta Kapoor, Joint Managing Director, Balaji Telefilms Limited, said,

“Having been in the business of entertainment for more than two decades now, we value the bond between celebrities and their fans. Both ALTBalaji and Tring work with talent and try to bring them a step closer to their fans and vice-versa. We believe this synergy will work in favour of both the brands and help each other widen our reach. We believe in the talented team at Tring, who has immense potential to take the business to new heights.”  

As part of this transaction, ALTBalaji will be entitled to appoint one board member to represent them on the board of B D Inno Ventures Pvt Ltd (the parent company of Tring). The investment and involvement of ALTBalaji in this space reinforces the potential of the booming celebrity commerce business in India.

Shobha Kapoor, Managing Director of Balaji Telefilms Limited, added,

“Balaji Telefilms has always believed in investing ahead of the curve and this investment in Tring allows us to better connect with audiences across India. We have successfully taken ALTBalaji to new heights since we launched in 2017, and today, we are one of the most loved Hindi OTT with award-winning shows on the platform. The team at Tring has done a tremendous job in such a short period, and we are confident that with our investment and support, they will scale much faster, bringing audiences closer to the celebrities they adore. We look forward to growing our businesses, given the numerous synergies that exist between Balaji Telefilms and Tring across target markets and customers.”