Short-video making app <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/chingari-raises-19-million-in-crypto-tokens-to-launch-its-own-crypto-token/articleshow/86868155.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Chingari </a>on Monday announced it has raised $15 million in a Series A extension round. The platform said it will use the funds to enhance technology, launch new features and augment the tech team. The app is planning to soon launch its live-streaming, socio-commerce and audio chat features. With over 110 million downloads, <keyword id="12270967" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="chingari" source="Orion">Chingari</keyword> said it has witnessed a two-fold increase in its user base since April 2021. The short-video making app aims to take its user base to 200 million by the end of this year. "This new funding will further strengthen our position and help us deliver an immersive user experience for our community," said Sumit Ghosh, Co-founder and CEO, Chingari. With 35 million monthly active users (MAUs), the app is aiming to further increase user engagement by strengething local content portfolio with more than 20 languages on the platform. Republic Capital led the latest funding with participation from Onmobile, JPIN Venture Catalysts, Hill Harbour, Angellist, Venture Collective, Makan Family, Cowa Ventures, MVC Friends, Protocol Labs and other HNI family offices. The platform recently launched a crypto token ‘$GARI' to make content monetisation more mainstream in the country.

Chingari raises $15 million to enhance tech, launch new features

<ul><li>Short video app Chingari raised $19 million in crypto tokens from 30 venture funds and individual investors.</li><li>This round is in the form of stablecoins — USDC and Tether — which are less volatile and are backed by US dollars.</li><li>Chingari believes that these tokens are a critical element of the platform, which will enable the creators to set up their ecommerce space.</li></ul>Short video app Chingari — which has over 78 million downloads — has raised $19 million in crypto tokens from 30 venture funds and individual investors. The company has highlighted that they have raised this round in the form of stablecoins — USDC and Tether — which are less volatile and are backed by US dollars. The company will use this capital to build its own token called $GARI with the decentralised computing platform Solana, which is powered by blockchain technology. These tokens would further help the platform grow creator monetisation. “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,” Sumit Ghosh, cofounder and chief executive of Chingari, said in a statement. Chingari believes that these tokens are a critical element of the platform, which will enable the creators to set up their ecommerce space, with physical merchandise, non-fungible tokens (NFT) and the ability for fans to fund their favourite artists. Several investors participated in the round — including 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. “Collective ownership of social platforms like Chingari has the potential to upend the creator-platform relationship and unlock new monetisation models for creators. Solana blockchain’s high throughput, low transaction fees, and fast finality make it a great foundation for platforms targeting global adoption,” said Raj Gokal, chief operating officer at Solana Labs. Founded in November 2018 by Sumit Ghosh, Deepak Salvi, Aditya Kothari and Biswatma Nayak, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/not-just-a-tiktok-clone-says-chingari-app-founder-with-their-latest-shop-within-videos-feature-which-he-claims-is-the-next-big-thing-in-social-commerce/articleshow/81084432.cms">Chingari has raised $33 million to date</a>. It is backed by Republic Capital, Astarc Ventures, JPIN, OnMobile and others. It launched a video commerce vertical in February this year to provide a monetisation engine for creators on its platform. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/tata-sons-buy-air-india-for-2-39-billion-from-the-indian-government/articleshow/86867529.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" style="">Tata Sons buys ‘Maharaja’ for $2.39 billion from the Indian government</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/airtel-announces-cashback-of-6000-free-one-time-screen-replacement-on-purchase-of-new-devices/articleshow/86865821.cms" style="">Airtel announces cashback of ₹6,000, free one-time screen replacement on purchase of new devices</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/tata-motors-titan-ongc-bandhan-bank-and-bosch-stand-out-this-week-with-over-10-rallies/slidelist/86866914.cms" style="">Tata Motors, Titan, ONGC, Bandhan Bank and Bosch stand out this week with over 10% rallies</a>

Chingari raises $19 million in crypto tokens to launch its own crypto token

Bengaluru-based telecommunication firm <keyword id="113830" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="OnMobile">OnMobile</keyword> has led a $13 million (nearly ₹95 crore) <keyword id="708591" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Funding-Round">funding round</keyword> in homegrown short-form video <keyword id="235499" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="APP">app</keyword> <keyword id="40682" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chingari">Chingari</keyword>, the companies announced on Thursday. As part of the deal, OnMobile will integrate and distribute its direct-to-consumer gaming platform, ONMO, on the Chingari app and collaborate on other mobile product integrations to serve millions of users. On the other hand, Chingari will use the funds to enhance its content portfolio, hire top talent and accelerate its growing user base. Chingari said that the investment will help it accelerate its growth from 56 million users to over 100 million users. "We couldn't have hoped for a better partner than OnMobile to help Chingari embody its vision and become a content super media app for <keyword id="6354582" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="bharat">Bharat</keyword>, and help engage a billion Indians," said <keyword id="337346" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sumit-Ghosh">Sumit Ghosh</keyword>, Co-Founder and CEO of Chingari. Earlier last year, Chingari had raised $1.4 million from a series of investors. "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. Chingari allows its users to download and upload videos, chat with friends, interact with new people, share content, browse through feed, and much more. The platform is available in more than 10 vernacular languages along with English and Spanish. "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 Krish Seshadri, CEO of OnMobile. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/paytm-money-set-to-hire-250-engineers-for-its-new-technology-centre-in-pune/articleshow/81813092.cms">Paytm Money set to hire 250 engineers for its new technology centre in Pune</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/government-withdraws-interest-rate-cut-on-small-savings-schemes-in-a-bizarre-u-turn/articleshow/81813361.cms">Government withdraws interest rate cut on small savings schemes in a bizarre u-turn</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/coursera-soars-23-in-trading-debut-following-4-3-billion-ipo/articleshow/81785440.cms">Coursera soars 23% in trading debut following $4.3 billion IPO</a>

Indian short video app Chingari gets $13 million cheque from Bengaluru-based telecommunication firm OnMobile

<ul><li>It took Chingari one and a half years to get to 1 lakh downloads, since its launch in November 2018, but the past few days have given it millions of new users. </li><li>“I’m sure even Mark Zuckerberg has not seen this moment – of adding 600,000 users every hour,” Sumit Ghosh, co-founder of the app told Business Insider.</li><li>While Chingari’s co-founder Sumit Ghosh didn’t confirm or deny the news about the funding, he did open up about this ‘opportunity of a lifetime’. </li><li>The TikTok rival app from India that shot to fame with the ban on the Chinese apps, and its crazy ride to popularity has also got the attention of investors.</li></ul>Chingari, the TikTok rival app from India that shot to fame after the country’s <keyword id="1707862" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="ban-on-Chinese-apps">ban on Chinese apps</keyword>. The over 10 million downloads that followed (as of July 2) has caught the attention of a global venture capital firm too, according to a source. The funding announcement is likely soon, the source said. While Chingari’s co-founder Sumit Ghosh didn’t confirm or deny the news, he did open up about this ‘opportunity of a lifetime’. “I’m sure even Mark Zuckerberg has not seen this moment – of adding 600,000 users every hour.” he told Business Insider Chingari is also hiring. The team needs 10-15 people right away to help with the surge in traffic – UI/UX designers, engineers and more. Millions of downloads may equal millions in valuation As soon as India banned Chinese apps <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/checkout-the-name-of-the-chinese-banned-apps-in-india/articleshow/76696132.cms">on June 29</a>, Chingari began to get 100,000 downloads per hour and now, has crossed over 10 million in downloads on Google Play Store. Ghosh’s first reaction was, in his own words, “ what just happened?!” The startup which has raised no funds so far, took one and a half years to get to 1 lakh downloads, since its launch in November 2018. But now, the app is currently adding 3-4 million users everyday, according to Ghosh. “We were at the right place at the right time. We have been doing this for a while, but we didn’t get the traction that the app deserved. And it’s finally happening now,” he said and added that an opportunity of this scale comes to very very few entrepreneurs, Right place, right time This was definitely a breakout moment for Chingaari but it also got unexpected support. “We were trending on the playstore even before the ban. The trend began with Sonam Wangchuk’s video appeal to use <keyword id="9486405" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="made-in-india-apps">Made in India apps</keyword>. We started asking people to try our Made in India app and that sentiment went viral, people started posting on Instagram asking everyone to try Chingari,” Ghosh said in an exclusive chat. Sonam Wangchuk is an engineer and innovator, and the founding-director of the Students' Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh. Its popularity grew as Anand Mahindra, chairman of the Mahindra Group too downloaded the app and <a href="https://twitter.com/anandmahindra/status/1277144666660634624">shared on Twitter</a>, “I hadn’t ever downloaded TikTok but I have just downloaded Chingari... More power to you…” There’s more work to be done In the past one week, the team at Chingari has been working relentlessly – 48 hours non-stop at times. There have also been hurdles on the way for Chingari – as the downloads grew, the servers were finding it difficult to manage the traffic. Ghosh often took to Twitter to keep updating users about the server’s functionality. <div type="image" title="chingari screenshot" msid="76749619" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Tweets from Chingari co-founder Sumit Ghosh&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> “Some of us have been taking two hour naps in between. But now we have scaled our servers after understanding the kind of traction we will be getting, so the team is taking proper rest now,” he said. The app is currently trending in the second spot in Google’s Play Store for top apps in India, with many rooting for a Made in India success – including investors! SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/facebooks-tiktok-clone-lasso-is-shutting-down-as-zuckerberg-gears-up-to-launch-instagram-reels/articleshow/76745585.cms">Facebook’s TikTok-clone Lasso is shutting down as Zuckerberg gears up to launch Instagram Reels</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/lee-fixel-the-man-behind-tiger-globals-investments-in-facebook-spotify-and-flipkart-has-a-new-fund/articleshow/76742642.cms">Lee Fixel, the man behind Tiger Global's investments in Facebook, Spotify and Flipkart has a new $1.3 billion fund</a>

EXCLUSIVE: Chingari app is in talks with a global VC firm after the TikTok rival gets lit with over 10 million downloads⁠

Bollywood superstar <keyword id="6354583" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="salman-khan">Salman Khan</keyword> has invested in homegrown short-form video app <keyword id="40682" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chingari">Chingari</keyword>, the company announced on Friday. With Salman as <keyword id="3123392" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="global-brand-ambassador">global brand ambassador</keyword> and investor, Chingari said it is looking to augment its position as the market leader. The company, however, did not disclose the funding amount from Salman. The news came as Bengaluru-based telecommunication firm <keyword id="113830" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="OnMobile">OnMobile</keyword> led a $13 million (nearly ₹95 crore) funding round in Chingari on Thursday. "It is our pleasure to have Salman on-board as one of our global brand ambassador and investor. We are confident that our association will power Chingari to scale greater heights in the near future," said Sumit Ghosh, Co-founder and CEO, Chingari. The app currently has more than 56 million users in India. "I like how Chingari has shaped up in such a short span of time, a platform for millions from rural to urban to showcase their unique talents and be seen by another million's in no time," said Salman. Chingari allows its users to download and upload videos, chat with friends, interact with new people, share content, browse through feed, and much more. The platform is available in more than 12 vernacular languages along with English and Spanish. "Chingari has always focused on empowering the content creators and builds on its strategy to continuously bring exciting content for all users with more relevant and robust features," said <keyword id="1342828" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="deepak-salvi">Deepak Salvi</keyword>, Co-Founder and COO, Chingari. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/paytm-money-set-to-hire-250-engineers-for-its-new-technology-centre-in-pune/articleshow/81813092.cms">Paytm Money set to hire 250 engineers for its new technology centre in Pune</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/government-withdraws-interest-rate-cut-on-small-savings-schemes-in-a-bizarre-u-turn/articleshow/81813361.cms">Government withdraws interest rate cut on small savings schemes in a bizarre u-turn</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/coursera-soars-23-in-trading-debut-following-4-3-billion-ipo/articleshow/81785440.cms">Coursera soars 23% in trading debut following $4.3 billion IPO</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/indian-actor-rajinikanth-will-receive-the-51st-dadasaheb-phalke-award/articleshow/81818360.cms">Rajinikanth to receive the 51st Dadasaheb Phalke award</a>

Bollywood actor Salman Khan invests in short-form video app Chingari

<ul><li><keyword id="6762469" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="TikTok">TikTok</keyword> might have taken a hit with the growing resentment against Chinese apps, but it has also opened up the line of investors with the likes of Microsoft and Oracle in the US and Reliance in India. </li><li>But it’s not just TikTok alone. The ban on the app in India along with several other Chinese apps in late June this year gave its clone apps overnight popularity.</li><li>In August alone, Indian video-sharing apps have closed almost $20 million in funding so far.</li></ul>TikTok doesn’t just have millions of users dancing to its tunes, it also has marquee investors around the world picking up a tune to sing along with the Chinese giant. From Microsoft and now, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/272cfc69-b268-45ac-88d6-d55821f27e78">reportedly Oracle</a> looking to buy TikTok in the US, to India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani looking to buy the Indian business, the company has investors looking to cash in on its popularity. But it’s not just TikTok alone. The ban on the app in India along with several other Chinese apps in late June this year gave its clone apps overnight popularity. It even saw Facebook pushing out its new Instagram update and TikTok lookalike – <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/instagram-reels-is-being-quietly-tested-in-india-just-days-after-the-tiktok-ban/articleshow/76768337.cms">Instagram Reels,</a> just days after the ban. While TikTok’s real number of users aren’t reported by the company, the app was high up on the top downloads charts in India and had seen over<a href="https://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2020/aug/13/reliance-likely-to-acquire-tiktok-in-india-for-5-billion-2182978.html"> 611 million downloads</a>. And with these users looking to move to newer video destinations, Indian <keyword id="9777126" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="video-sharing-apps">video sharing apps</keyword> wanted to ride on the ban and the country’s AtmaNirbhar initiative. So evidently, venture capital money has also made its way to its India clone apps. In August alone, the Indian video-sharing apps have closed almost $20 million in funding so far, and as reports say, there are bigger ones on the cards. Indian social media startup Sharechat, which had also launched its own video sharing platform Moj, is <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/google-in-talks-with-sharechat-as-latter-scouts-for-150-200-million/articleshow/77582440.cms">reportedly</a> in talks with Microsoft and Google for an investment. Sharechat was also Twitter’s first startup investment in India. <keyword id="40682" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chingari">Chingari</keyword> Chingari, shot to fame overnight, so much so that its founders were tracking the hundreds of thousands of users coming in every hour right after the TikTok ban while working for 48 hours with no sleep. The app also won the best video sharing app in the Indian government’s AtmaNirbhar app challenge. Chingari raised $1.3 million in August from LogX Ventures, iSeed, Village Global along with angel investors like Brian Norgard, the former Chief Product Officer of Tinder, who has invested in SpaceX, AngelList, Notion among others. <keyword id="3961149" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="mitron">Mitron</keyword> Mitron, which gained popularity, even before the TikTok, thanks to its name being a word used famously by PM Narendra Modi, has raised two rounds of funding in recent times. Today the company has announced that it has raised $5 million, led by Nexus Venture Partners. 3one4 Capital and Arun Tadanki’s private syndicate on LetsVenture, along with a slew of angel investors like Deep Kalra (MakeMyTrip founder), Amarjit Batra (Spotify India head), among others. The startup said that it has over 33 million downloads on the Play Store and garners 9 billion video views per month. <keyword id="8861782" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Trell">Trell</keyword> Trell raised $11.4 million in a Series A round led by KTB Network. The round also saw participation from Samsung Ventures, Gokul Rajaram (Board Member, Pinterest, Square, DoorDash), Sequoia’s Surge, Fosun RZ Capital, among others. With 75 million downloads, the app claims to have grown over 27 times in the last 12 months and also has 25 million monthly active users. “Since the Chinese App ban, Trell has witnessed 500% growth with over 15 million creators on its platform receiving more than 5 billion monthly views,” the company said. Bolo Indya Another TikTok clone app, Bolo Indya, closed a seed funding round of $500,000 with over 40 lakh monthly active users. The startup’s funding was led by Eagle10 Ventures and India Accelerator. With a focus on vernacular language growth, the company’s founder Varun Saxena had said he aims to “see ourselves to be on at least one smartphone of every Indian household with a non-English user within the span of next 18 months”. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/oyo-byjus-investor-lightspeed-india-closes-its-third-fund-with-275-million/articleshow/77603896.cms">OYO, Byju's investor Lightspeed India closes its third fund with $275 million</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/tata-motors-sbi-card-bandhan-bank-ril-britannia-sbi-cards-share-price-are-top-movers-on-dalal-street-today/articleshow/77605529.cms">Top stock movers on Dalal Street today — Tata Motors, SBI Card, Bandhan Bank, RIL, Britannia</a>

It's not just TikTok, its clone apps in India too have a beeline of investors

<ul><li>Despite slowdown in capital raising, spiked inflation and hiked interest rates India saw a notable growth of 28.6% in funding value in April this year.</li><li>This is much more than as compared to other countries like the US, UK, and China, as per <keyword id="13106424" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="GlobalData-report" source="Orion">GlobalData report</keyword>.</li><li>The <keyword id="982553" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-startups" source="Orion">Indian startups</keyword> raised $12.1 billion through 672 venture capital (VC) funding deals announced during January-April 2022.</li></ul>In spite of many global events like a war and inflation, <keyword id="14032859" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-VC-funding" source="Orion">Indian VC funding</keyword> in April grew 28.6% despite a decline in deal volumes, as per a report by <keyword id="1670029" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="globaldata" source="Orion">GlobalData</keyword>. In fact, it was able to attract more funding than countries like US, China and the UK, it said, Indian <keyword id="6362513" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="startups" source="Orion">startups</keyword> raised $12.1 billion through 672 VC deals between January-April 2022, the report said. However, these deals were announced and closed before India and the Fed cut interest rates making money ‘meager’. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Tighten your belts say investors" comment="subhead" text="Tighten your belts say investors">Tighten your belts say investors</cmsannotation> In a recent report, <keyword id="122716" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sequoia-Capital" source="Orion">Sequoia Capital</keyword> which invested in 30 unicorns in India including Byju’s, spoke of profitability in a letter to its investee companies. It advised belt-tightening and spoke about the increasing cost of monetary flows and its impact on funding. However, a few startups could manage to raise funds before this capital crunch hit them. “The trend suggests that investors continue to remain bullish on promising startups with good ideas as some of these were successful in raising sizable capital,” said Aurojyoti Bose, lead analyst at GlobalData. Some of the notable VC funding deals announced in India during April include — <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;"><colgroup></colgroup><col /><col /><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Startup </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Funding raised </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Verse Innovation (Josh) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$805 million </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Tech4Billion Media (Chingari) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$200 million </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Roppen Transportation Services (Rapido) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$180 million </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">CoinDCX </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$135 million </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Isprava </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;"> $130 million </td></tr></tbody></table> According to Business Insider’s calculations, Indian startups laid off<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/indian-startups-have-already-laid-off-over-5700-employees-in-the-last-four-months/slidelist/90980198.cms"> 6,900 employees</a> in the first four months of 2022. In May alone, unicorns like Vedantu and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/cars24-is-the-latest-unicorn-to-lay-off-600-employees-after-unacademy-and-vedantu/articleshow/91660002.cms">Cars24 fired over</a> 1,200 employees. Additionally, no company entered the unicorn club last month whereas in April 2021 eight new companies joined the list. The startup market has been witnessing an upward trend for the last 18 months and “now for a few months it looks a little slow”, explained Gaurav VK Singhvi, cofounder of investment firm We Founder Circle. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/60000-jobs-in-startup-companies-may-lose-their-jobs-this-year-in-india-experts-say/articleshow/91804572.cms">It would be a long firing season for startups — experts say 60,000 could lose their jobs</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/vehicle-insurance-premiums-may-increase-from-april-2022/articleshow/90043466.cms">Vehicle insurance premiums to increase from June 1 – here’s how much the new premiums will cost you</a>

Here are five startups which managed to raise funds before the capital crunch hit them

<ul><li>With the latest investment, the startup’s valuation has gone up to $2.1 billion.</li><li>Earlier, there were talks that Google would also be betting on the social media platform.</li><li><keyword id="3358959" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="ShareChat">Sharechat</keyword>’s new funding will be used for its short video platform <keyword id="8678883" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="moj">Moj</keyword>, which it had launched in July last year right after TikTok’s ban in India.</li></ul>Indian social media platform ShareChat has raised $502 million from Tiger Global Management and LightSpeed Ventures, while Snap Inc, Twitter and India Quotient, too, participated in the round. With the latest investment, the startup’s valuation has gone up to $2.1 billion. The investment makes ShareChat the fifth Indian tech-startup to be valued by investors at a billion dollars this week and the 9th unicorn of 2021. The regional language social media platform’s new funding round will be used for its short video platform Moj, which it had launched in July last year, right after Chinese short video app TikTok’s ban in India. Currently, ShareChat claims to have over 160 million monthly users while Moj claims to have 120 million monthly active users. “Moj is well-positioned to seize the opportunity presented by the growth of short video in India. We are impressed with the team’s understanding of these rapidly evolving technologies and its ability to execute quickly, and we are excited to partner with them as they continue to build a great company,” said Scott Shleifer, partner at Tiger Global in a statement. The funding comes into the parent company of ShareChat and Moj – Mohalla Tech. The company has now raised a total of $766 million in funding. Earlier, there were <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/google-is-reportedly-in-talks-to-acquire-twitter-backed-indian-social-media-startup-sharechat/articleshow/79381248.cms">talks</a> that Google would also be betting on the social media platform. “With this infusion of capital we would continue to aggressively grow our user base, build a world-class organisation in India and the US and further strengthen our creator community, artificial intelligence-powered recommendation engine and platform health,” said Ankush Sachdeva, chief executive officer and co-founder of ShareChat in a statement. The Indian social media platform ShareChat has built a strong base for itself in the country. As a conscious decision, ShareChat isn’t going after the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/sharechat-top-exec-shares-how-the-social-media-startup-is-built-for-bharat-users-which-platforms-of-the-west-lack/articleshow/78359881.cms">first adopters </a>of the internet in India – the English-speaking audience which consumes content similar to the West. Sharechat has a presence in over 15 Indian languages. ShareChat’s Moj has competition from the likes of DailyHunt’s Josh, MX Player, Chingari among others. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/sme-financing-platform-ofbusiness-raises-110-million-from-falcon-edge-capital-valuation-hits-800-million/articleshow/81962626.cms">SME financing platform OfBusiness raises $110 million from Falcon Edge Capital – valuation hits $800 million</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/online-investment-platform-groww-is-indias-latest-unicorn-as-it-raises-83-million/articleshow/81952184.cms">Boom! Another unicorn pops up from India as Groww raises $83 million at a billion dollar valuation</a>

ShareChat is this year’s 9th unicorn as it raises over $500 million from Tiger Global, Snap and Twitter

Here are all the startups that raised funding in July

<ul><li>The new platform allows users to overlay their recorded videos with popular songs. </li><li>With a feed of user-generated content, Spotlight will compete with <keyword id="8322765" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="instagram-reels">Instagram Reels</keyword> and many other home-grown platforms such as MX TakaTak, Chingari, Bolo Indya, etc. </li></ul>Snap Inc. today announced Spotlight, its new entertainment platform for user-generated content within <keyword id="6358096" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="snapchat">Snapchat</keyword> that saw over 100M users in January, is now live in India. Spotlight surfaces the most entertaining Snaps from the Snapchat community all in one place and will become tailored to each Snapchatter over time based on their preferences and favorites. <div type="Youtube" id="wHxADOQmkyI" title="पेश है Snapchat पर स्पॉटलाइट 🔦" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wHxADOQmkyI/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Snapchatters are some of the most expressive and creative mobile storytellers in the world and Spotlight gives them an opportunity to share their creations broadly. With over 5 billion Snaps created each day, Spotlight empowers the Snapchat community to express themselves and reach a large audience in a new way. Spotlight was designed to entertain the Snapchat community while living up to Snap’s values, with their wellbeing as a top priority. Spotlight content is moderated and doesn’t allow for public comments. Snaps submitted to Spotlight must respect Snap's content guidelines to receive distribution. Snap’s $1m a day program will also be available in India, celebrating and rewarding the creativity of local Indian Snapchatters and offering a chance for creators to earn a share of a $1M USD daily fund. Snapchatters must be 16 or older, and where applicable, obtain parental consent to earn. Check out details in our Terms. Spotlight is now available in India, Mexico, and Brazil, having launched in 11 countries previously (US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France).

Spotlight, Snapchat's answer to TikTok and Instagram Reels launched in India

New Delhi, Homegrown Twitter-like platform <keyword id="3518161" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="koo">Koo</keyword> has garnered over 10 lakh new users in just one week, surpassing the 40 lakh-figure in nearly 10 months of its arrival, as Twitter was caught in crosshairs with the Indian government over its direction to remove nearly 1,400 controversial accounts. Koo, a favourite among several Union ministers, including IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad who is at the forefront of the government's war with Twitter, has reached 4.2 million users within no time. According to data analytics platform Statista, as of January 2021, the micro-blogging platform Twitter had an audience reach of 69.3 million users in the US. Japan and India were ranked second and third with 50.9 and 17.5 million users, respectively. The fast-growing vernacular platform Koo describes itself as a personal updates and opinion sharing micro-blogging service. The app won the Atmanirbhar App Innovation Challenge held in August last year and Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> encouraged Indians to use the Koo app in his 'Mann Ki Baat' speech too. However, Koo also found itself in the midst of several controversies including a data leak row and Chinese investment. Koo Co-founder and CEO Aprameya Radhakrishna denied that there was any data leak. "Koo is an India registered company with Indian founders. Raised earlier capital 2.5 years ago. Latest funds for Bombinate Technologies is led by a truly Indian investor 3one4 capital. Shunwei (single digit shareholder) which had invested in our Vokal journey will be exiting fully," Radhakrishna said in an earlier investment. Koo has raised $4.1 million as part of its Series A funding. Infosys veteran Mohandas Pai's 3one4 Capital is the latest addition to the investors on board, according to the company, and <keyword id="144381" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Accel-Partners">Accel Partners</keyword>, <keyword id="1397792" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kalaari-Capital">Kalaari Capital</keyword>, <keyword id="592779" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Blume-Ventures">Blume Ventures</keyword> and Dream Incubator also participated in the round. "We have got more love than we expected. Our systems are facing more load than ever. Thank you for placing your trust in us. Our team is working on overdrive to fix it. We request your patience and support through this time. Let's do this together," Radhakrishna had said. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/india-issues-new-guidelines-for-passengers-arriving-from-the-uk-brazil-europe-and-middle-east-countries/articleshow/81083248.cms">India issues new guidelines for passengers arriving from the UK, Brazil, Europe and Middle-East countries</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/not-just-a-tiktok-clone-says-chingari-app-founder-with-their-latest-shop-within-videos-feature-which-he-claims-is-the-next-big-thing-in-social-commerce/articleshow/81084432.cms">‘Not just a TikTok clone,’ says Chingari founder with their latest shop within videos feature which he claims is the next big thing in social commerce</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/samsung-galaxy-f62-review-the-new-mid-range-killer/articleshow/81084382.cms">Samsung Galaxy F62 review – the new mid-range killer</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/cairn-energy-ceo-meets-indian-finance-secretary-as-shareholders-impatiently-wait-for-action-on-the-1-4-billion-tax-dispute/articleshow/81087952.cms">Cairn Energy CEO meets Indian finance secretary as shareholders impatiently wait for action on the $1.4 billion tax dispute</a>

As Twitter engages in a firefight with the Indian government, homegrown rival Koo crosses 4 million users within 10 months of launch

<ul><li>The founder of <keyword id="12297704" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="makerdao" source="Orion">MakerDAO</keyword>, Rune Christensen, believes people should “be ready for the worst” when it comes to <keyword id="12297703" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="stablecoin-regulation" source="Orion">stablecoin regulation</keyword> in 2022.</li><li>According to him, ‘super countries’ like Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK and other climate resilient nations, will be more <keyword id="7616853" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="stablecoin" source="Orion">stablecoin</keyword> friendly than the US in the future.</li><li>Christensen recently dissolved the <keyword id="12297705" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="maker-foundation" source="Orion">Maker Foundation</keyword> and wants MakerDAO to champion for climate change.</li></ul> Rune Christensen, founder of MakerDAO, believes that stablecoins may be in for a rough year ahead. Marking his return to the MakerDAO community on Reddit, Christensen held an Ask Me Anything (<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/MakerDAO/comments/q60iif/im_rune_christensen_cofounder_of_makerdao_and/">AMA</a>) session on the forum where he was asked about the future of stablecoin regulation in 2022. And, his response was to “be ready for the worst,” especially when it comes to the US. After dissolving the Maker Foundation, to make the <keyword id="12297706" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="dai-stablecoin" source="Orion">DAI stablecoin</keyword> ‘truly’ decentralised, Christensen is now <a href="https://forum.makerdao.com/t/the-case-for-clean-money/10684">advocating</a> for MakerDAO to solve the problem of climate change. According to him, there is potential for DAI to thrive in the regulatory environment of ‘super countries’ — Canada, UK, New Zealand, Australia and other nations that are climate resilient — rather than the US. <div type="image" title="climate resilence global_edited" msid="86965922" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Global map showing the impact of climate change if the Earth gets warmer by four degrees Celsius&amp;lt;span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> <div type="ExtQuote" text="“We need to set up legal core units and government relations core units for each of these places [super countries], and once we have those in place, we should be able to get a proper assessment of how safe our collateral would be.”" auname="MakerDAO founder Rune Christensen said during an AMA on MakerDAO’s subreddit"></div> According to him, once MakerDAO finds locations from where it starts to implement large scale real world projects, the company will be politically impossible to shut down — as long these bases are set within countries with “good political environments.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="wazirx" comment="wazirx" text="wazirx">wazirx</cmsannotation> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="The regulatory landscape for stablecoins is ‘very hard to predict’" comment="subhead" text="The regulatory landscape for stablecoins is ‘very hard to predict’">The regulatory landscape for stablecoins is ‘very hard to predict’</cmsannotation> Stablecoins like Libra and Tether have caught the eye of global regulators primarily due to concerns over how the companies behind them manage the reserves that back them, especially since these stablecoins serve the purpose of a bridge between the world of cryptocurrencies and the traditional economy for many investors. <div type="ExtQuote" text="“It’s very hard to predict, especially because there are two aspects to that question, both what’s going to happen to stablecoins in general… and then what’s going to happen to decentralised stablecoins like DAI.”" auname="MakerDAO founder Rune Christensen said during an AMA on MakerDAO’s subreddit"></div> Most stablecoins, like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/tether-is-a-cryptocurrency-thats-not-volatile-and-pegged-against-the-us-dollar/articleshow/83604895.cms">Tether</a> and Libra, are ‘hard-pegged’ to the US dollar — they’re backed by the actual fiat currency. MakerDAO’s DAI stablecoin, on the other hand, is ‘soft-pegged’ to the US dollar. This means that while it maintains its value with respect to the fiat currency, it’s not actually backed by it. Instead, it’s backed by other cryptocurrencies. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="The need for stablecoin regulation" comment="subhead" text="The need for stablecoin regulation">The need for stablecoin regulation</cmsannotation> Stablecoins are meant to offer ‘stability’ like their name suggests. The idea is that 1 token will be worth $1, a hundred tokens would be worth $100, and so on. Countries like the US, Japan, Singapore, China and the European Union (EU) are currently in the midst of figuring out how to protect investors from the risk that stablecoins present — the risk of not really being ‘stable’ at the end of the day. Tether, for instance, is not backed by actual US dollar reserves. Instead, it is backed by commercial paper — short term debt issued by companies to raise funds — most of which is speculated to be out of China. Even though the company behind the largest stablecoin on the market did come out to say that it doesn’t have any exposure to Evergrande — China’s real estate behemoth that is currently struggling to pay its $300 billion debt — there are still other Chinese companies that may be at risk due to the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/evergrandes-impact-on-bitcoin-highlights-how-cryptocurrencies-still-have-growing-pains/articleshow/86422657.cms">ripple effect</a> put into motion by Evergrande’s downfall. And, that’s only the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/tether-is-a-cryptocurrency-thats-not-volatile-and-pegged-against-the-us-dollar/articleshow/83604895.cms">tip of the iceberg</a> when it comes to the reserves backing Tether. Last year in March, MakerDAO found itself in hot water as well when the price of Ether — the native token powering the Ethereum blockchain and the backbone of MakerDAO’s decentralised finance (DeFi) platform — went for a nosedive. It went from being worth $193 to $95 in less than 24 hours. The resulting chaos over transaction fees led to $8.32 million of Ether being liquidated off the platform for free. The event even got its own name — ‘<a href="https://medium.com/@whiterabbit_hq/black-thursday-for-makerdao-8-32-million-was-liquidated-for-0-dai-36b83cac56b6">Black Thursday</a>’. And, as things stand, there is very little stablecoin regulation on a national and global scale. <a href="https://forum.businessinsider.in/">For a more in-depth discussion, come on over to Business Insider Cryptosphere</a> — a forum where users can deep dive into all things crypto, engage in interesting discussions and stay ahead of the curve. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/bitcoin-crosses-57000-for-the-first-time-in-five-months-altcoins-continue-to-struggle/slidelist/86957497.cms">Bitcoin crosses $57,000 for the first time in five months — altcoins continue to struggle</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/chingari-raises-19-million-in-crypto-tokens-to-launch-its-own-crypto-token/articleshow/86868155.cms">Chingari raises $19 million in crypto tokens to launch its own crypto token</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/nearly-half-the-world-will-be-using-cryptocurrencies-to-send-money-in-the-next-two-years-a-revolution-led-by-remittances/articleshow/86867756.cms">Capgemini says nearly half the world will be using cryptocurrencies to send money in the next two years — a revolution led by remittances</a>

‘We should be ready for the worst’ — MakerDAO founder is not optimistic about the stablecoin regulation in 2022

<keyword id="4521522" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="shiba-inu" source="Orion">Shiba Inu</keyword> has managed to retain itself among the top 20 largest cryptocurrencies in the market for over a week now. The cryptocurrency made its debut a little over a year ago and has seen one of the fastest jumps in popularity. Indian cryptocurrency exchange <a href="https://wazirx.com/signup?invite=2kpah6gr&amp;utm_source=business-insider&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=article-advertorial">WazirX</a> was among the first to list the <a href="https://wazirx.com/exchange/SHIB-INR">SHIB token</a> in the country. Users on the platform can directly buy the cryptocurrency using Indian rupees or exchange for it using Tether (USDT) or the exchange’s native WarizX token (WRX). It only took the meme coin 14 months to hit a market value of $12 billion and become the 12th biggest cryptocurrency by market value at its peak. In comparison, it took Dogecoin 88 months — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/shiba-inu-took-14-months-to-hit-a-market-value-of-12-billion-it-took-dogecoin-6-times-longer-to-reach-that-milestone/articleshow/86839017.cms">six times longer</a> — to be as big. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="wazirx" comment="wazirx" text="wazirx">wazirx</cmsannotation> The rally has investors asking other cryptocurrency platforms to list the Shiba token as well. A petition on Change.org is <a href="https://www.change.org/p/robinhood-convince-robinhood-they-will-prosper-if-they-list-shiba-inu-coin">urging trading app Robinhood</a> to add the coin to their roster. It has over 2.27 lakh signatures so far. <div type="ExtQuote" text="This petition is designed to kindly request Robinhood to please list Shiba Inu coin to trade. Dogecoin has been a huge success for Robinhood, and its investors… Shiba has just been listed on Binance and its momentum grows by the hour… Let's encourage Robinhood to be the first traditional brokerage to get on this train! Thank you." auname="Petition on Change.org asking Robinhood to list Shiba Inu on its exchange"></div> And, all this, because of one tweet by tech billionaire <keyword id="6355315" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="elon-musk" source="Orion">Elon Musk</keyword> of his real life Shibu Inu puppy called ‘Floki’. <div type="twitter" handle="elonmusk" handlename="Elon Musk" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1442634650703237120/mXIcYtIs_normal.jpg" favoritecount="387765" retweetcount="35125" status="Floki Frunkpuppy https://t.co/xAr8T0Jfdf" createdat="1633311718000" id="1444840184500129797"></div> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Other factors that may have caused Shiba Inu to skyrocket" comment="subhead" text="Other factors that may have caused Shiba Inu to skyrocket">Other factors that may have caused Shiba Inu to skyrocket</cmsannotation> Traditionally, when Bitcoin’s value increases, the value of altcoins sees a dip. And, when Bitcoin’s value corrects itself, altcoins play catch up. Many believe that Shibu Inu’s rally last week was just that — an altcoin playing catch up and getting caught in the headwinds of Musk’s tweet. Others attribute the coin’s rise to speculation over a major whale purchase — someone who is expected to buy a lot of SHIB. According to <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/shiba-inu-jumps-55-exchange-113026888.html">Yahoo Finance</a>, an unknown whale bought around 6.3 trillion SHIB for approximately $44 million in September. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Meme coin Shiba Inu rally slows down — but it’s still worth thrice what it was a week ago" comment="subhead" text="Meme coin Shiba Inu rally slows down — but it’s still worth thrice what it was a week ago">Meme coin Shiba Inu rally slows down — but it’s still worth thrice what it was a week ago</cmsannotation> Some consider Shiba Inu to be a ‘shit’ coin — a coin with no inherent value — others believe that it could potentially be the <a href="https://wazirx.com/blog/is-shiba-inu-a-dogecoin-killer-or-a-shit-coin/">‘Dogecoin Killer</a>’. While Dogecoin uses the same technology as Bitcoin, Shiba Inu is powered by Ethereum. Either way, there’s no denying the break neck speed with which the latter gained value. Even after the rally behind the meme token seems to have slowed down — a 300% growth followed by 30% retrace — Shiba Inu is still worth thrice as much as it was a week ago at a price of $0.00002839 on October 11 at 5:00pm. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Shibu Inu is gearing for a comeback after the largest dump in its history" comment="subhead" text="Shibu Inu is gearing for a comeback after the largest dump in its history">Shibu Inu is gearing for a comeback after the largest dump in its history</cmsannotation> According to analytics platform <a href="https://twitter.com/santimentfeed/status/1447485903161622530">Santiment</a>, the hit that SHIB’s price took on October 8 was due to small whales dumping more than 30 billion tokens directly into the market — the largest dump in the token’s history. This, in turn, created massive selling pressure. However, today, the cryptocurrency’s value is up by more than 10% in the last 24 hours, according to <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/shiba-inu/news/">CoinMarketCap</a>. Santiment asserts that the dumped tokens have most likely been redistributed among ‘micro traders’. On the flip side, trading volumes on Binance show that investors may be losing interest in Shiba Inu. It has fallen from a peak of 240 trillion to <a href="https://coinranking.com/market/11jakTSUC+shib-usdt-binance">less than 80 trillion</a> — one third of what it used to be — as of 2:00 pm Indian Standard Time (IST) on October 12. The total value locked on <a href="https://defillama.com/protocol/shibaswap">ShibaSwap</a> is only $448.96 million versus the $2.35 billion traded on Binance, in the last 24 hours. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Shiba Inu has an answer for the nay-sayers" comment="subhead" text="Shiba Inu has an answer for the nay-sayers">Shiba Inu has an answer for the nay-sayers</cmsannotation> Investor <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/big-short-michael-burry-shiba-inu-crypto-meme-token-pointless-2021-10">Michael Burry</a>, famous for being one of the few people who saw the 2008 financial crisis coming, expressed that the Shiba Inu cryptocurrency is “pointless.” In a tweet that has since been deleted, Burry shared that the tokens aren’t a desirable investment because the total supply exceeds a quadrillion tokens — this, in effect, limits any possible price appreciation. However, Shiba Inu is working on solving that problem too. The developer behind the cryptocurrency has partnered with NowPayments.io to burn a percentage of SHIB tokens with each transaction. <div type="twitter" handle="Shibtoken" handlename="Shib" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1418580748022525953/d0MGsPSY_normal.jpg" favoritecount="25326" retweetcount="8916" status="We are proud to announce that we will be establishing a #PartnerSHIB with NowPayments.@NOWPayments_io will onboar… https://t.co/HL4bveeVXQ" createdat="1633631667000" id="1446182147350401033"></div> The primary criticism of this strategy is that burning a meaningful percentage of the cryptocurrency will take years. Instead, the community behind the cryptocurrency has suggested a manual burn to reduce the number of tokens in circulation. For now, Shiba Inu investors are waiting for the launch of Shiboshis — a collection of 10,000 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that will be minted on ShibaSwap — and the project’s plans to enter the world of gaming. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Shiba Inu is a joke… about a joke" comment="subhead" text="Shiba Inu is a joke… about a joke">Shiba Inu is a joke… about a joke</cmsannotation> The cryptocurrency was founded in August 2020, created by someone with the pseudonym ‘Ryoshi’. Just as Dogecoin was created as a joke after the viral meme of the real life Shibu Inu called Kabosu, Shiba Inu is often considered to be the satirical rip off of Dogecoin. In India, the Shiba Inu cryptocurrency came into the limelight when Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin, donated nearly $1 billion to fund India’s fight against COVID-19 during the second wave earlier this year. One part of the funds were in 500 Ether (ETH) and the other part consisted of 50 trillion SHIB. Shortly afterwards, Buterin — who was given 50% of the total SHIB tokens in circulation during the coin’s initial launch — burned 90% of the cryptocurrency in his possession by sending it to a dead wallet. At the end, SHIB’s price saw an all time high of $0.00003502. Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post in partnership with WazirX SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/bitcoin-crosses-57000-for-the-first-time-in-five-months-altcoins-continue-to-struggle/slidelist/86957497.cms">Bitcoin crosses $57,000 for the first time in five months — altcoins continue to struggle</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/chingari-raises-19-million-in-crypto-tokens-to-launch-its-own-crypto-token/articleshow/86868155.cms">Chingari raises $19 million in crypto tokens to launch its own crypto token</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/nearly-half-the-world-will-be-using-cryptocurrencies-to-send-money-in-the-next-two-years-a-revolution-led-by-remittances/articleshow/86867756.cms">Capgemini says nearly half the world will be using cryptocurrencies to send money in the next two years — a revolution led by remittances</a>

Elon Musk’s puppy, a new strategy to burn tokens, and altcoins playing catch up — the perfect storm for cryptocurrency Shiba Inu to skyrocket

New Delhi, July 1 (IANS) The ban on 59 Chinese apps has given homegrown app developers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create world-class products across chat, short videos, and photo/video sharing segments and led by ShareChat, desi apps are now scouting for fresh finds to invest intelligently into scaling their platforms and handle the upcoming rush. In a country where nearly 300 million people are on Facebook, another 400 million on WhatsApp and over 120 million on Chinese app TikTok -- not to forget the millions who are hooked to Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat -- there has not been a single social media platform to date with its roots in India that has created headlines globally. The time is ripe to rise to the occasion and show that Indian programmers can build top-notch social media apps right here, without going to the US or other countries. The regional language social media platform ShareChat is changing the way in which the next billion users will interact on the internet. With over 1 billion monthly Whatsapp shares, users spend more than 25 minutes daily on the platform. ShareChat has a user base of over 60 million monthly active users spread across the country and available in 15 languages including Hindi, Malayalam, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, Odia, Kannada, Assamese, Haryanvi, Rajasthani, Bhojpuri and Urdu. The Bengaluru-based regional language social platform has become so popular that even Twitter came onboard when the four-year-old company raised $100 million in its Series D round of funding last year. "ShareChat is silently leading a social media revolution with a strong focus on regional outreach keeping its Bharat connect pristine," said Berges Y Malu, Director, Public Policy, ShareChat. "We welcome the move from the government against platforms that have had serious privacy, cyber security and national security risks. We expect the government to continue their support for the Indian startup ecosystem," Malu added in a statement. Public is a video-only social platform and has already registered 50 million users, with more than one million videos being created every month. According to Azhar Iqubal, Founder and CEO of Public, we have immense talent and resources in India and the vacuum created by this ban is a great opportunity for Indian app makers to launch products that have the potential to do well globally. "It will also make users more vigilant in checking what permissions they have given to apps as smartphones store sensitive information," said Iqubal. Public is currently available in five Indian languages: Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Tamil and Telugu, and aims to have over 100 million users by the end of the year. Roposo is another leading homegrown short-video making app with more than 65 million downloads in the country. TikTok users, including influencers with huge fan followings, have started switching to Roposo in large numbers after the ban. "We have built Roposo as a clean and ethical platform. The unique idea of channels in Roposo provides every talented Indian with an opportunity to grow rapidly," said Mayank Bhangadia, co-founder of Roposo. Indians have rushed to download social app Chingari, a desi alternative to Chinese TikTok, which is witnessing nearly 1 lakh downloads and over 2 million views per hour since the government banned 59 Chinese apps over national security concerns. Already downloaded over 3 million times, the app which was founded by Bengaluru-based programmers Biswatma Nayak and Siddharth Gautam last year, was trending at the top spot on Google Play Store. "As Chingari is setting new benchmarks, a lot of investors are showing interest in our app. We are holding crucial discussions to get a good investor(s) on board so as to scale up our free-of-cost social platform," informed Nayak. Launched in October 2017, Khabri is another fastest-growing digital audio platform providing content in the regional language. "We urge Indian corporate leaders to come forward and reclaim the country's business ecosystem and consumers through supporting/investing in Indian startups," said Sandeep Singh, co-founder and president, Khabri. "Since the word spread that Indians now have a homegrown and more entertaining alternative to TikTok, we have been recording traffic beyond expectations on our app," said Nayak. Lifestyle community commerce platform Trell has witnessed more than 1 million downloads after India banned Chinese apps. With over 30 million downloads and 9 million monthly active users on its app, Trell has witnessed a 25 times growth within one year. "We welcome all the Tiktok and Chinese apps content creators with open arms to come and engage on Trell. As the largest Indian lifestyle social app, we will continue to ensure that the privacy and data of users will be protected," said Pulkit Agarwal, Co-Founder, Trell. --IANS na/in

You Searched For "chingari funding" and got 14 results

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