In Brief:
- Chingari raised $19 million in the funding round
- The startup aims to become a global platform for social interaction based on the blockchain.
- Chingari will launch its own token, $GARI, powered by the Solana blockchain
Chingari, an app for short videos, raised $19 million in its latest funding round with the aim of offering cryptocurrency as a means of monetisation.
A number of renowned crypto investors participated in the round, including Republic Crypto, Solana Capital, Kraken, and others, given the startup’s aim to mainstream cryptocurrency in India.
The fund raised in the round was in the form of stablecoins – USDC and Tether. Chingari plans to use this fund to launch its own crypto token called $GARI, powered by the Solana blockchain, which is backed by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).
Earlier this week, the Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm, a16z, invested in CoinSwitch Kuber, turning it into the second unicorn in the crypto space in India after CoinDCX.
Chingari plans to make its token, $GARI, an integral part of the platform, allowing creators to set up their own e-commerce spaces including physical merchandise and NFT creations.
Sumit Ghosh, Co-Founder & CEO, Chingari said, “The future of a platform lies in its creators. On one side, we have an immense talent pool that needs to be explored and rewarded with an ethical amount of monetization. On the other hand, 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.
In the absence of a clear government stance on cryptocurrency trading in India, the company has yet to confirm if it will go live.
