Google Buys 1.43% of Rigi in Rs 10 Crore Bet on Creator Economy

Google has put Rs 10 crore into creator-economy startup Rigi, buying a 1.43% stake through preference shares, according to regulatory documents reviewed by Entrackr. The deal values the Bengaluru-based company at roughly Rs 670 crore post-money.

The mechanics are straightforward. Rigi's board approved the allotment of 1,543 preference shares at Rs 61,796 apiece, per the filings. That price point works out to the Rs 10 crore total and gives Google its first seat in the company's shareholder register.

For context on scale: Rs 10 crore is roughly $1.2 million, a modest cheque by Google's standards but a signal-heavy one. It marks the search giant's entry into Rigi's cap table just as the startup pushes deeper into digital content and entertainment.

What is Rigi, exactly?

Founded in 2021 by Swapnil Saurav and Ananya Singhal, Rigi began with a clear pitch: help content creators, influencers and celebrities turn online followings into income. The platform let creators build paid communities on WhatsApp and Telegram, manage subscriptions, and sell digital products — online courses, webinars, workshops and one-to-one mentorship sessions.

The business model is platform-led. Rigi earns fees on transactions facilitated through its services, positioning itself as the tool layer that lets creators monetize audiences directly rather than depending solely on brand partnerships and advertising.

The company has since broadened its aperture. Rigi TV, its short-form video platform, offers bite-sized content including original shows and micro-dramas. That arm monetizes through advertisements and in-app purchases, putting Rigi in competition with the crowded short-video space rather than just the creator-tooling niche.

What does this change for Rigi?

The obvious read: validation and capital at a moment when the company's financials show it still needs both. Rigi reported revenue of Rs 19.92 crore and a net loss of Rs 20.5 crore for the financial year ended March 2025, according to Entrackr. In plain terms, the startup burned slightly more than it earned — a gap of over Rs 50 lakh per crore of revenue.

Rigi has yet to file its FY26 results, so there's no newer data on whether that gap has narrowed. A Rs 10 crore infusion, against an annual loss of Rs 20.5 crore, buys the company meaningful runway on paper — but not years of it.

There's also the strategic angle. Google's name on the cap table tends to open doors, particularly for a company whose newest business line, Rigi TV, depends on mobile distribution and advertising ecosystems where Google is a dominant player.

The funding backdrop

This isn't Rigi's first institutional cheque. The company previously raised around Rs 100 crore in a round led by Elevation Capital in January 2023, with existing investors Accel, Stellaris Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital also participating, Entrackr reported at the time.

The Google round is a fraction of that size — roughly a tenth — which suggests it's a strategic or bridge-style investment rather than a full-priced growth round. At a Rs 670 crore post-money valuation, investors are pricing Rigi at about 34 times its FY25 revenue.

For practitioners watching the creator-economy sector, the takeaway is that global strategics are still writing cheques into Indian content infrastructure — but selectively, and at sizes that signal interest rather than conviction. Whether Google's 1.43% becomes a larger position likely depends on what Rigi's FY26 numbers, and Rigi TV's traction, show next.