Aptos Labs backs web3 TikTok rival Chingari

Aptos Labs is attempting to make its mark in web3 social media with an equity investment in short video app Chingari.

Chingari is an on-chain social media app that was founded in 2018. It has five million daily active users and over 200 million videos are watched on the app on a daily basis, said a company release. Users upload and share video shorts on the platform similar to TikTok.

The Aptos blockchain

The social media app will now make Aptos its preferred Layer 1 blockchain. The chain launched late last year and uses Move, a programming language that builds on top of Rust — the language used on the Solana blockchain. Move was developed by Meta for the Diem project.

“Chingari was looking for the speed, safety and scalability of the Aptos network to support their millions of users – and to onboard millions more in the future,” said Mo Shaikh, co-founder and CEO of Aptos Labs, in the release.

The social media app started out as a web2 platform and has since adopted web3 technologies. The startup launched the GARI token on the Solana network, which enabled creators to be compensated and vote on governance, according to a Forbes interview in January. Several Solana developers have moved to Aptos due to technical challenges with the blockchain.

The move to Aptos will allow for creators to own their own content and be appropriately rewarded, the company said. It’s raised over $88 million from investors such as Kraken, Republic Crypto and Galaxy Digital, according to data from Crunchbase. Chingari’s CEO and co-founder Sumit Ghosh told Forbes the startup would also be ramping up hiring at a time when other web3 companies are pulling back.

“After intense months of technical due diligence and evaluation of the Aptos blockchain, we have chosen it as the rightful chain for the newer version of the Chingari App which will go live in early Q2 of 2023,” said Ghosh in the release.

The rise of decentralized social media

Decentralized social media allows creators to have more control over their data and means that users are not at mercy of decisions by one specific individual or company. This scenario was recently highlighted by Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter where some users have been dissatisfied by decisions made by Musk on the platform.

Several decentralized social media solutions such as Lens Protocol and Damus are now gaining momentum with users.

The new partnership will allow for Chingari to strengthen its existing presence in India and expand to other markets, the company said in the release.

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