Mitron Tv bags Rs 2 Cr from 3One4 Capital and Lets Venture

The ban on 59 Chinese apps has suddenly created an opportunity for many entrepreneurs to build desi TikTok, Vigo, UCWeb and SHAREit. All kinds of investors also have been expressing interest in funding such products. 

In a first such instance, TikTok’s clone Mitron TV has raised Rs 2 crore from 3One4 Capital and Lets Venture Angel. Both investors have put in Rs 1 crore each in the Bengaluru-based venture. According to regulatory filings, 3One4 Capital and LV Angel Fund picked up 1,966 CCPS and one equity share each.

Notably, the deal was finalised more than two weeks before the Central Government's move to impose a ban on several Chinese applications including TikTok. 

CNBC-TV18 reported the development first.

Released in late April, Mitron is a short video and social app which allows users to create, edit and share their videos, and browse through a library of top videos across the globe. The app gathered fame when it amassed 5 million downloads in April.

As per Google Play Store’s numbers, Mitron has over 10 million downloads. However, the app claims 17 million users and two million creators, along with 5.5 million videos.

It’s expected to cross 25-30 million downloads soon as TikTok and other short video apps with a link to China are not allowed to operate locally after the government ban on the pretext of national security and sovereignty.

Apart from the ban on TikTok and others, it appears that the name ‘Mitron’ has helped the app attract a sizeable number of downloads. Mitron refers to friends in Hindi and has been widely used by prime minister Narendra Modi.

As per Fintrackr estimate, Mitron Tv has been valued around Rs 13.3 crore in this seed financing round. The founders - Anish Khandelwal and Shivank Aggarwal have diluted their respective stakes from 45% to 38.23% each. Seed investors 3One4 Capital and LV Angel Fund will together own 15.04% (7.52% each).

It’s worth noting that Mitron also faced backlash over missing privacy policy and basic details of the developer and the company. It was banned for about four days on Google Play but later the app got listed on the Google-owned store.

At present, there are several clones of TikTok for both Android and iOS devices. Chingari is one of them, however, it’s reportedly operational from the past two years. Zee has also entered the short video space with HiPi today. 

Entrackr had exclusively reported about HiPi two weeks ago. Unlike others, it won’t be a separate app and will be integrated into Zee5’s native app as a feature.