[Funding alert] Social platform Chingari taps into Solana’s blockchain with $19M financing round

Chingari, a social media platform for sharing short-form videos with over 78 million downloads, has completed a funding round of over $19 million from more than 30 venture funds and individual investors. 

The funding will help the startup to build its token called ‘$GARI’ with Solana, the fastest-growing ecosystem in crypto technology.

Sumit Ghosh, CEO and Co-founder of Chingari, said,

“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.” 

With the funds raised, the company will test blockchain live, Chingari Integration beta, and the upcoming $GARI token sale. 

ALSO READ

[App Fridays] Chingari’s social audio app Fireside is a Clubhouse clone, with local language support

Sumit further added, “The result of this infusion is Social Tokens as the future of community platforms for creator monetisation. It is reaching new milestones as we speak.” 

Some of the biggest firms that participated in the funding round include Republic Crypto, Galaxy Digital, Alameda Research, Solana Capital, Valor Equity Partners, Kraken, Blackpine, NGC, Coinfund, LD Capital, Borderless Capital, AU21, Cultur3 Capital, Long Term Ventures, Afton Capital, and CSP DAO, among others. 

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. Ever since, the number of Chingari users claims to have increased exponentially, surpassing milestones of 100,000, 1 million, 10 million, and then 50 million — all in just six months. Spurring its growth is the creator-centric model, attracting talent, and generating intriguing content for its nearly 80 million users. 

“Collective ownership of social platforms like Chingari has the potential to upend the creator-platform relationship and unlock new monetisation models for creators,” said Raj Gokal, COO of Solana Labs. “Solana blockchain’s high throughput, low transaction fees, and fast finality make it a great foundation for platforms targeting global adoption.” 

Andrew Durgee, Managing Partner at Republic Capital, stated,

“At Republic, we believe social tokens are an essential piece of the crypto community and creator economy. Chingari shares this vision and has taken innovative steps to bring that vision to life. Their creators and users will now be able to more truly monetise their own engagements and experiences.”