Homegrown short-form video app, Chingari, on Thursday said that it has raised close to $13 million in a funding round led by mobile entertainment company OnMobile.
Other investors who participated in this round include Republic Labs US, Astarc Ventures, White Star Capital, Rajat Sharma of India TV, JPIN Venture Catalysts Ltd, ProfitBoard Ventures, and Raghunandan G., co-founder, Taxiforsure, along with large family office funds from the UK.
This investment will allow Chingari to accelerate its growth from 56 million users to over 100 million users, the company said. As a part of the investment, OnMobile will also integrate and distribute its direct-to-consumer ONMO gaming platform on the Chingari app and collaborate on other product integrations.
Chingari will also use the funds to enhance its content portfolio, hire top talent and accelerate its growing user base.
Last year, Chingari had raised $1.4 million from a series of angels, along with iSeed, Village Global, and Blume Founders Fund participating as a part of the round.
“We couldn’t have hoped for a better partner than OnMobile and Krish to help Chingari embody its vision and become a content super media app for Bharat that engages with a billion Indians. With our visions aligned, this partnership promises to be a winning collaboration,” said Sumit Ghosh, co-founder and chief executive officer of Chingari.
Two-year-old Chingari, which started off as a short-form video app, now also provides social video commerce through its Chingari Multiplex offerings. With the strategic partnership of OnMobile, Chingari would also be introducing gaming within the app.
“We are very excited about this investment and partnership bringing millions of users to the new ONMO gaming service while providing immediate business value and increased user reach for both companies,” said François-Charles Sirois, executive chairman of OnMobile.
With the investment, the chief executive of OnMobile, Krish Seshadri, will also be joining Chingari’s board.
“The Chingari team has built a terrific product with great user retention and growth. ONMO gaming’s short format challenges and Chingari’s short-form videos complement each other well,” said Seshadri.
