Chingari will never accept Chinese investments, says chief of Indian TikTok rival

Chingari, the short video-sharing app made in India, has gained significantly after the government banned 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok. While the massive surge in downloads and active users had led the company to seek fresh investments, Chingari co-founder and CEO Sumit Ghosh, has made it clear that the company will never accept funding from Chinese companies or investors.

“No Chinese money, no Chinese companies’ money ... no Chinese direct or indirect money in Chingari ever. Not now, not ever,” Ghosh said.

“It will be the global (venture capitals), operating out of U.S. or U.K. – there’s a lot of global money available so definitely, no Chinese money,” he added.

Since the government imposed an interim ban on TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps over data-security concerns, Chingari has been among the top Indian apps that have received widespread attention. The company has recorded over 10 million downloads on the Google Play Store in a very short span.

The start-up will seek a $10 million Series A funding round by next week to cope with the rapid growth in users over a short period of time, reported CNBC. “We will be closing it by end of next week and announce it by the end of this month. We are well-capitalised,” Ghosh said. He did not reveal the valuation figures and only described it as  “a decent valuation, in terms of social networks coming out of India.”

There has been a rapid rise in anti-China sentiment in India since the onset of the coronavirus which was followed by the border dispute with the Chinese army in the Galwan region in Ladakh. A recent survey also revealed that many do not want Chinese investors in Indian companies.