OnMobile acquires 10% stake in Chingari, leads $13 million funding round
Other investors include Republic Labs US, Astarc Ventures, White Star Capital, India TV, JPIN Venture Catalysts Ltd, ProfitBoard Ventures and Raghunandan G of Zolve
OnMobile Global Limited, the global leader in mobile entertainment, and Chingari, India’s homegrown short-form video app announced today that OnMobile has led a $13 million round in Chingari.
Other investors who participated in this round include Republic Labs US, Astarc Ventures, White Star Capital, India TV (Rajat Sharma), JPIN Venture Catalysts Ltd, ProfitBoard Ventures, Raghunandan G of Zolve (Co-Founder, Taxi4sure), and some large family office funds from the UK. Earlier last year Chingari had raised $1.4mil from a series of Angels, including Jasminder Gulati, FJ Labs( Fabrice Grinda), Angelist, Utsav Somani’s iSeed, Village Global, and Blume Founders Fund.
This investment will allow Chingari to accelerate its growth from 56 million users to over 100 million users. As part of the deal, OnMobile will integrate and distribute its direct-to-consumer ONMO gaming platform on the Chingari app and collaborate on other product integrations to serve millions of users. Chingari will use the funds to enhance its content portfolio, hire top talent and accelerate its growing user base.
In a filing to the BSE, OnMobile has said that the company has acquired 10% stake in Chingari for an undisclosed sum. The consideration will be paid in cash and the transaction is expected to complete in 45 days.
Through this partnership, OnMobile will promote its games in millions of videos on Chingari app. OnMobile will also set-up games channel on Chingari app and have access to millions of Chingari users.
Commenting on this investment, OnMobile Executive Chairman François-Charles Sirois said, "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”
"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," Krish Seshadri, CEO of OnMobile, said.
“We couldn't have hoped for a better partner than OnMobile & Krish to help Chingari embody its vision and become a content super media app for Bharat, and help engage the Billion Indians. With our visions aligned, this partnership promises to be a winning collaboration," said ChingariCo-Founder, and CEO Sumit Ghosh.
