Telegram App Is Booming but Needs Advertisers -- and $700 Million Soon
Telegram is riding high, adding tens of million of users this year. Now the bill is coming due. WSJ: The messaging service and social-media platform owes creditors roughly $700 million by the end of April, according to people briefed on the company's plans and loan documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal. At the same time, Telegram Group must cover rising equipment and bandwidth expenses because of its rapid growth, despite going years without attempting to generate revenue. Telegram is one of the few significant social-media challengers to Facebook on a trajectory toward one billion users active each month by the end of 2022, up from roughly 550 million today. But first Pavel Durov, the Dubai-based Russian emigre who owns Telegram, needs to figure out how to convert his app's momentum into a self-sustaining business. [...] To pay the bills, Mr. Durov is issuing investors $1 billion to $1.5 billion of company debt, with the promise of discounted equity if the company eventually goes public, the people briefed on the plans said. He has also announced plans to start selling ads in public Telegram channels as soon as later this year, as well as offering other premium services for businesses and users.
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