Older people know Telegram as a shady, secretive chat. It’s like the dark web of messaging platforms. That’s understandable, with more and more unsettling stories coming up about the illegal activities on the platform.
Some of these include job scams, illegal ride-hitching and illegal sharing of nasty stuff.
Meanwhile, most of Telegram’s user base is from Gen-Zs and adults up to 34 years old, and we love using it because we can connect with anyone without saving their phone number and using their secret chat feature.
Now, there’s been an update on the platform.
No, it’s not just about a new feature.
Banking on the Ad-Revenue
Telegram is a messaging platform that had just surpassed 900 million users in 2023. Its main rival is Whatsapp, owned by Meta, and it has 1.8 billion monthly active users.
Telegram has been growing exponentially, growing by 400 million active users since 2021. They have a stories feature, secret chat feature, scheduling and editing messages, files, and photo and audio sharing among many other things.
CEO and founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov, came out of the shadows and did his first public interview since 2017 with the Financial Times.
In the interview, he stated that Telegram has been making “hundreds of millions of dollars” in revenue after having advertisements on the app, and introducing subscription plans in 2022.
The subscription plan, also known as Telegram Premium, offers a slew of benefits including no advertisements, animated profile pictures, large file uploads, real-time translation and voice-to-text conversion. Those who want to convert their personal account to a business account can also do so for a price.
It’s definitely cool, enabling the app to generate insane profits and they can expect more with its unprecedented growth.
If you haven’t been seeing advertisements(ads) on Telegram, you’re lucky.
Durov said that the ads are only tested in certain areas, but they’re hoping to expand globally and use automated systems to engage smaller advertisers.
Going Solo
Durov took time to flex in the interview, stating that interested investors offered Telegram US$30 billion-plus valuations. This means that the potential investors believe that Telegram is worth $30 billion in assets, business and potential future earnings.
However, Telegram’s sole owner was not interested in selling. He emphasised wanting to be independent, and is looking at an IPO to “democratise access to Telegram’s value”.
This means that so far, Durov has been profiting off Telegram’s success alone, and will continue to until he decides on an IPO.
With Telegram growing this fast and bringing in this much money, Durov said that an initial public offering (IPO) is something within his sight.
An IPO is when the shares of a private company, in this case Telegram, are made available to the public for the first time. This allows the company to expand more and raise a lot more money because Telegram can sell its shares in exchange for capital that can be used for growth.
The shares can be traded on stock exchange where investors can buy and sell. If Telegram goes public by 2026, special bondholders of Telegram can convert their senior unsecured debt into ownership of equity at a discounted rate.
Durov said that he is more likely to sell a portion of stocks to its loyal users.
With increased funds and growth, Durov mentioned that Telegram will undergo plans to improve chat moderation and allocate resources to using Artificial Intelligence to solve issues and automate business chats.