India-Based TikTok Competitor Chingari Closes $15 Million Funding Round

One of the world’s most prominent cryptocurrency exchanges, OKEx, has invested in the short-video platform Chingari which announced raising $15 million in a funding round.

As part of OKEx’s strategic investment in Chingari, the startup’s native token GARI will be listed on the exchange on January 18. Five more crypto exchanges are set to list the token on the same day.

OKEx’s Undisclosed Investment in Chingari

According to the report, the extended Series A funding round for the Indian video application, Chingari, was led by Republic Capital. Other participants of the funding event were Onmobile, JPIN Venture Catalysts, Hill Harbour. Following the latest development, Chingari has so far raked in total funds of $28 million. OKEx has also made an undisclosed investment.

The company said that the fresh capital will be deployed to ramp up the technology on the app, roll out new features, focus on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Space (AI/ML), and grow its team. Additionally, the fund will also be used to expand the company’s marketing initiatives to cement the brand’s reach in non-metro cities of the country.

In April 2021, Chingari had announced raising $13 million in a pre-Series A round led by OnMobile Global. Besides, the startup also plans to launch its live-streaming, socio-commerce, and audio chat features. These releases are intended to help creators to foster their engagement rates with the viewers and also pave the way for high-profile brands and firms to join forces with the app and its creators.

GARI To Debut On Six Exchanges Simulataneously

More recently, Chingari had raised $19 million in crypto tokens from venture funds and individuals, including Solana Capital and crypto exchange Kraken.

A press release shared with CryptoPotato informed that OKEx will list Chingari’s native crypto, GARI, on its platform on January 18. Meanwhile, GARI is also gearing up to debut on five other global exchange platforms – FTX, Huobi, Kucoin, Gate.IO, MEXC Global, on the same day.

The main objective of the company is to boost a digital economy by enabling its users to obtain the GARI tokens by creating or watching content on the platform. With the latest development, Chingari joins the list of many social media apps that have tapped the cryptocurrency industry.

CEO Sumit Ghosh asserted that the company is bringing the Web 3.0 revolution to the creator economy with the help of its native crypto GARI. The exec also added:

“GARI will enable 30 million monthly active users of the Chingari Short video app to get on-chain. For the first time in the history of blockchain, an app will onboard millions of users on-chain from the day of its launch. The Chingari and GARI teams and the entire community are super excited about its launch and listing.”