Chingari
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersBangalore, India
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Chingari does
Chingari is an India-based short-video sharing mobile application launched in 2018, operated by Tech4Billion Media Private Limited (a subsidiary of Tech4Billion Global INC) with offices in Bangalore and Mumbai. The platform enables users to create, share, and discover short-form video content, targeting primarily Indian consumers with stated ambitions to expand across Southeast Asia and other emerging markets. The company gained initial traction during the 2020 TikTok ban in India, scaling its registered user base to approximately 80M+ by 2021. The app's core technology includes standard short-video creation tooling augmented by AR camera filters (leveraging Apple TrueDepth API), with 2.2M active wallets on the Solana blockchain supporting its Web3 features.
Chingari's business model combines a freemium consumer app with a native cryptocurrency layer. Users can purchase virtual gifts ("diamonds") to tip creators and subscribe to premium features. Creators and users are rewarded through the GARI token, which was originally built on the Solana blockchain and is migrating to Aptos following a February 2023 strategic investment from Aptos Labs. The company has raised approximately $87M+ across multiple equity and token rounds, including a $40M GARI token sale on Republic in November 2021, a $15.08M Series A led by Republic Capital in January 2022, and a $19M crypto token round led by Galaxy Digital and Republic Crypto in October 2021. Investors include AngelList India, iSeed, CoinFund, OnMobile, Galaxy Digital, Republic Crypto, Republic Capital, and Aptos Labs.
In mid-2023, Chingari executed a roughly 20% workforce reduction (~48 employees) and experienced the departure of co-founder Aditya Kothari, signaling a contraction phase following the 2021-2022 growth surge. The strategic pivot toward Aptos-based Web3 infrastructure represents the company's primary bet on differentiation in a highly competitive short-video market dominated by Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, Moj, and Josh.
Chingari firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Chingari
- Legal name
- Tech4Billion Media Private Limited
- Website
- https://chingari.io
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Chingari industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Social Media / Short-Video Platform
- NAICS
- Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (51621), Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (5162), Broadcasting and Content Providers (516)
- SIC
- Finance Services (6199), Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services (6200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Micropayments & Streaming Payments (Crypto) (FSADAIAM)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Trading Cards & Collectibles NFT Marketplaces (FSADANAI), Interoperability & Cross-Chain Infrastructure (Bridges, Messaging, Atomic Swaps) (FSAGAMAI)
Keywords
Where Chingari is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Bangalore
- HQ country
- India
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices2 records
Markets served
Chingari business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- GARI Token Sale: Cryptocurrency token sale and trading, with strategic listing on OKEx exchange enabling token liquidity and creator monetization through the blockchain-based token economy.
- Virtual Gifts (Diamonds): Users can send virtual gifts (diamonds) to creators during live streams. Creators can promote their services or brands using diamonds within their wallets, with Chingari taking a transaction cut.
- Subscription Services: Subscription-based access to premium features and perks. Users can cancel subscriptions at any time with access continuing until the end of the billing cycle.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Standard tier with basic features |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
Chingari product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Chingari is a short-video social platform and on-chain social application that enables users to create, share, and discover short-form video content. The app features live video streaming, live audio rooms, and social-Fi features including the native $GARI cryptocurrency token built on the Solana blockchain for creator monetization through NFTs and e-commerce.
Product overview
Chingari is a short-video social platform and on-chain social application developed by Tech4Billion Media Private Limited. The platform operates as a unified app combining short-form video content sharing with live streaming and live audio room capabilities, alongside Web3.0 features including the native $GARI cryptocurrency token built on Solana blockchain for creator monetization through NFTs and e-commerce.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- $GARI: Cryptocurrency token built on Solana that enables content creators to monetize their content and set up e-commerce spaces including NFTs and physical merchandise.
Products and services
- Chingari App Chingari is a short-video social platform and on-chain social application that enables users to create, share, and discover short-form video content. The app features live video streaming, live audio rooms, and social-Fi features including the native $GARI cryptocurrency token for creator monetization. It is available on iOS, Android, and web browsers.
- $GARI Token $GARI is Chingari's native cryptocurrency token built on the Solana blockchain (with planned migration to Aptos), designed to empower content creators with monetization opportunities including NFT sales and e-commerce features. The token enables trading on cryptocurrency exchanges such as OKEx.
Quantifiable outcome
- 80M+ users, targeting 200M users by end of 2022
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Chingari
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Chingari technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
Feature3 records
Chingari partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Chingari competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Roposo: Roposo is an India-based short-video and creator platform that overlaps directly with Chingari's core product, audience, and monetization model.
- Josh (by VerSe Innovation): Josh is a direct competitor to Chingari in India's short-video segment, serving vernacular-language content creators and consumers with comparable short-form video and live-stream features.
- ShareChat: ShareChat is the parent of Moj and a regional social-media incumbent in India; it competes with Chingari across social feeds, short-video, and creator monetization in the same Indian-language markets.
- Moj (by ShareChat/Moj+ parent): Moj is a leading Indian short-video app operating in the same regional market and product category as Chingari, with a similar mobile-first creator/consumer flywheel and India-focused distribution.
Regional players
- Loco: Loco is an India-focused live-streaming and gaming-content platform with comparable live-audio and creator-monetization features; it overlaps with Chingari's live-streaming and creator-economy modules.
Broad incumbents
- Instagram Reels (Meta): Instagram Reels is Meta's short-video product and a broad incumbent competitor; it competes for the same creator and viewer attention as Chingari but as part of a much larger social-media portfolio.
- TikTok (ByteDance): TikTok is the global short-video incumbent against which Chingari competes; while not crypto-integrated, it sets the benchmark for creator monetization, recommendation, and scale in the same product category.
- YouTube Shorts (Google/Alphabet): YouTube Shorts is Google's short-video offering and a broad incumbent peer; it shares Chingari's short-form video and creator-monetization model but operates at vastly greater scale and with deep ad-tech integration.
Emerging players
- Roll (formerly BitClips): Roll is a Web3-native social-token platform that lets creators launch their own tokens; it overlaps with Chingari's $GARI creator-token model as a comparable emerging social-fi architecture.
- Audius: Audius is a blockchain-based music streaming platform that shares Chingari's thesis of tokenizing creator monetization on-chain; while music-focused, it is a comparable Web3 social/content peer.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Chingari social profiles
Digital presenceChingari financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Chingari leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Chingari funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds8 records
Investors49 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Chingari M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Chingari
What does Chingari do?
Chingari is a short-video social platform and on-chain social application that enables users to create, share, and discover short-form video content. The app features live video streaming, live audio rooms, and social-Fi features including the native $GARI cryptocurrency token built on the Solana blockchain for creator monetization through NFTs and e-commerce.
Is Chingari a public or private company?
Chingari is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Chingari founded?
Chingari was founded in 2018. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Chingari based?
Chingari is headquartered in Bangalore, India, in the Asia region.
How does Chingari make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. GARI Token Sale is the primary driver. The others are virtual Gifts (Diamonds) and subscription Services.
Who are Chingari's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Roposo, Josh (by VerSe Innovation), ShareChat and Moj (by ShareChat/Moj+ parent). Loco is listed as a regional player. Broad incumbents are Instagram Reels (Meta), TikTok (ByteDance) and YouTube Shorts (Google/Alphabet). Emerging players are Roll (formerly BitClips) and Audius.
Does Chingari have an API?
No public API is recorded for Chingari.
What industry is Chingari in?
Chingari's product category is Social Media / Short-Video Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSADAIAM, Micropayments & Streaming Payments (Crypto), with a secondary code of FSADANAI, Trading Cards & Collectibles NFT Marketplaces. Its NAICS code is 51621 and its SIC code is 6199.