Celebrity-Engagement Startup Tring Raises $5 Mn From Kalaari Capital, Others

SUMMARY

Kalaari Capital infused $2 Mn in the funding round and also has the option to invest an additional $2.5 Mn in a new tranche

The funding round also saw participation from Blume Founders Fund, Redbrook Pte. and Sujeet Kumar from Udaan

Tring allows users to book shoutouts and video calls from celebrities for their family and friends

Celebrity engagement startup Tring has secured $5 Mn in its pre-Series A funding round led by Kalaari Capital.

Kalaari Capital infused $2 Mn in the funding round and also has the option to invest an additional $2.5 Mn in a new tranche. The funding round also saw participation from Blume Founders Fund, Redbrook Pte. and Sujeet Kumar from Udaan, news agency ANI reported.

The startup will deploy the fresh funds for product development and to launch new offerings to monetise its customer base of over 2 Lakh.

Founded in 2020 by Akshay Saini, Rahul Saini, and Pranav Chabhadia, Tring allows users to book shoutouts and video calls from celebrities for their family and friends.

“We are thrilled to back Tring in its journey to disrupt the celebrity fan engagement space in India. The team has shown strong capabilities and brings a deep understanding of the market opportunity. We are confident in their ability to build a leading fan engagement platform for India,” Kalaari Capital Partner Vamshi Reddy said.

Besides individual customers, Tring is also connecting over 1,200 companies with celebrities for product promotion, brand endorsement, and customised messaging, among others, the startup said.

The startup claims to have onboarded over 12,000 celebrities. Tring said it has seen 30X growth in revenue and 100X rise in its user base since its last funding round in 2021. It further said that it is clocking over 1 Lakh paid transactions on a monthly basis.

“India is a huge market for celebrity engagement services with users demonstrating high fandom levels. We are working to make Tring the one-stop marketplace for all digital personalised interactions with celebrities in India and soon Asia,” Tring CEO Akshay Saini said.

In 2020, OTT platform ALTBalaji acquired a 17.5% stake in Tring, taking the latter’s valuation to INR 100 Cr.

The startup has so far raised about $2.4 Mn in funding, according to Crunchbase.

Tring competes with startups such as TrueFan and Wysh in the Indian market.

According to a report, India’s media and entertainment industry was pegged at $22.28 Bn in FY18 and was estimated to clock a CAGR of 13.10% to become a $39.68 Bn market by FY23.