ShareChat’s Farid Ahsan unpacks challenges of building a billion-strong user base

And that sort of self-belief is in abundance within Farid Ahsan, the COO and Co-founder of ShareChat, who spoke recently at TechSparks 2021, India's most influential startup-tech conference hosted by YourStory.

Thursday November 04, 2021 , 3 min Read

Being an entrepreneur requires an extraordinary amount of self-belief, sometimes to the extent that even your close friends and family tend to believe that you are incredulous.

And that sort of self-belief is in abundance within Farid Ahsan, the COO and Co-founder of ShareChat, who spoke recently at TechSparks 2021, India's most influential startup-tech conference hosted by YourStory.

As an indication of their ambition, Farid and his co-founders firmly believe the next big thing in social media, even at a global scale, is likely to come from India, and they are working to make that revolution happen today.

The ShareChat founders believe that when it comes to unleashing creativity in this country and monetising the short-video space in Bharat, all the startups are merely scratching the surface.

Talking about creating the largest indigenous social media and short-video platform, Farid acknowledged the importance of both luck and tenacity.

He believes the last year, especially post-pandemic, has been a culmination of all the blood, sweat, tears, and hard work that has been put behind creating ShareChat. Read more.

Check out YourStory's full coverage of TechSparks 2021 here.

Click here to download YourStory’s Tech50 report.

The Interview

Rameesh Kailasam, CEO, IndiaTech.org, describes to YourStory the five-point framework created by IndiaTech.org to regulate India's crypto industry while mitigating risks and fostering innovation.

Editor’s Pick: 100X Entrepreneur

Kushal Bagia, CEO of First Cheque, says that the venture capital firm was conceptualised by Mumbai-based India Quotient to create a programme that will back founders through a network of other founder angels.

In this episode of 100X Entrepreneur Podcast, Kushal talks about the launch of the venture capital fund and how it invests in early-stage startups. Read more.

Startup Spotlight

Preparing healthcare facilities for the post-pandemic world

According to the Future Health Index 2021 India report, at least 94 percent of Indian healthcare leaders would like their hospital or healthcare facility to focus on patient-centred healthcare enabled by smart technology, optimise operational efficiency, integrate diagnostics, and predict patient outcomes.

This is what led former co-founders of used-goods commerce portal Zefo – Himesh Joshi, Arjit Gupta, and Karan Gupta – to launch Ayu Health, a Bengaluru-based health-enterprise startup. Read more.

Ayu Health startup Snapshot — *Credit: YourStory Design*

News & Updates

Bengaluru-based natural pet food brand Dogsee Chew raised $7 million in a pre-Series A round from Sixth Sense Ventures. Founded by husband-wife duo Bhupendra Khanal and Sneh Sharma, Dogsee Chew produces 100 percent vegetarian hard cheese dog chews.

GlobalBees, a Thrasio-like platform for D2C brands to grow their business online, has acquired two more new-age companies — Yellow Chimes and Absorbia.

The Technical Advisory Group (TAG), an independent advisory committee of the World Health Organisation (WHO), has recommended Emergency Use Listing (EUL) status for Bharat Biotech COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin, sources in the know of the development said.

Innoviti Payment announced a special ESOP buyback worth $5 million and the payout is scheduled on Diwali day. Under the buyback scheme, all eligible employees will be entitled to sell up to 40 percent of their vested options.

Create Music Group has acquired Nirvana Digital, one of the largest YouTube Enterprise partners in India, as part of its $50 million investment in India and the broader region in Asia over the next few years.