Chai Bisket's ChaiShots Goes Live and Announces INR 20 Cr Fund for Creators The platform features vertical, scripted episodes that run under 2 minutes and aims to turn everyday micro moments into quick storytelling experiences.
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Chai Bisket, a well known name in Telugu digital entertainment, has officially launched Chai Shots, a regional short series OTT platform created for the smartphone audience. The platform features vertical, scripted episodes that run under 2 minutes and aims to turn everyday micro moments into quick storytelling experiences.
Immediately after the platform announcement, the founders introduced two major initiatives designed to support and empower creators. The first is the Creator Gateway, a direct submission portal that allows storytellers to pitch ideas without intermediaries. The company has committed to a 45 day timeline from pitch to release, offering a shorter and more transparent approval process. The second initiative is a creator fund worth INR 20 crore that will be deployed over the next 6 months to collaborate with more than 200 creators on original shows.
Chai Shots positions itself as a regional short series OTT platform. It is built on insights from the Chai Bisket ecosystem and focuses on high quality vertical content for what the company calls the Third Screen, referring to mobile phones. The app is now available on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.
The venture has raised a seed round of USD 5 million with investments from Info Edge Ventures and General Catalyst. It has also received support from several well known angel investors, including Rana Daggubati, the founders of Swiggy, the founder of RedBus, the founders of PhysicsWallah, and the founding teams of Rapido, Darwinbox and Virgio.
Sharath Chandra, Co Founder and CEO of Chai Shots, said, "In markets like China and the United States, vertical short drama has already become a multibillion dollar industry. India with its strong storytelling culture and growing mobile audience is prepared for this shift. With Chai Shots we are bridging the space between the big screen experience and long form television."
Anurag Reddy, Co Founder and Chief Creative Officer, added, "At Chai Shots we do not just create content, we create creators. With the Creator Gateway and the Creator Fund we want to reduce long waiting periods." He added that the platform is launching with more than 75 original shows and plans to release 2 new shows every week.
Chai Shots begins with a large Telugu library and is already developing content in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Bengali and Assamese as part of its nationwide expansion.
