Pakistan’s first digital platform RINSTRA has been valued at US$20 million with further potential to become one of the fastest growing companies in the digital world from Pakistan.
RINSTRA has emerged as one of the most attractive initiatives in Pakistan in the MediaTech scene in the country. While all other applications and platforms are offering simple streaming of the news and entertainment channels with a few offering videos on demand (VOD), RINSTRA went ahead and opened doors for Pakistani content creators.
The startup has successfully raised Series A funding of US$ 2 million.
RINSTRA has not only became Pakistan’s first user generated platform, it also started commissioning content with not only the established names like Haseena Moin and, Mehreen Jabbar but also gave opportunities to young film makers to create content on diverse topics.
The startup’s US$ 20 million valuation is based on projected industry trends and similar businesses in emerging and frontier markets.
The demand for content and entrepreneurial enthusiasm for creating new content for the digital space is pushing the boundaries of content imagination and creativity for such platforms with original and indigenous ideas.
The fact that Pakistan has more than 76 million internet users with and 37 million active social media accounts is one of the biggest opportunities of growth in the economy.
With mobile internet rates giving maximum value to the customers has been the sole entertainment instrument for the masses. However, lack of indigenous platforms that can push native flavored content is one of the biggest missing links for Pakistani content creators.
RINSTRA – A Brief History
The idea to establish RINSTRA was first pitched at the DICE Foundation, USA’s annual meeting, where committed Pakistanis in North America and Europe felt the need to start a digital platform that can create opportunity for Pakistani storytellers to have Pakistan’s narrative in the global content stream. The slogan to start RINSTRA was set as “Our Story Our Way”.
The proof of concept was approved and an initial seed money of almost US$ 500,000 was invested to create RINSTRA with the funding received from American Pakistani diaspora.
