Creator economy in India is a booming industry, growing at 25% CAGR: Ananya Singhal

Founded in the year 2021 by Ananya Singhal and Swapnil Saurav, Rigi is a platform empowering content creators in order to monetise and manage their communities. Rigi is targeted towards both aspiring and established content creators who are willing to pursue their passion. It has crossed 200k+ users since the time of its formation and has also crossed 50k downloads and 150k users in less than 5 months.

In conversation with Adgully, Ananya Singhal, Co-founder & COO, RIGI, said, “There are very limited avenues for content creators to be able to effectively monetise their content, and hence, be empowered to think of taking this up as a full-fledged professional choice.”

How is RIGI enabling the rise of ‘Creatorpreneurship’ in India? How does tech play a crucial role in doing so?

As India continues to make remarkable strides in the digital realm, bolstered by increasing Internet penetration and improved broadband availability, social media has transcended its conventional role of mere socialisation to become a versatile platform for multifaceted pursuits. The horizons have expanded unprecedentedly, and social media has now become a standing market hub with ‘content’ quite literally and figuratively becoming ‘the king.’

Generated across different genres and platforms, in multiple languages, for people to consume globally, digital content is now the cornerstone of creating awareness and building influence, paving the way for the growth of what is called the ‘creator economy’. A rather nascent sector, the creator economy has far-reaching opportunities and is touted to be one of the most sought-after sectors in the coming decade.

The size of the global creator economy is over $100 billion, with two million-plus creators considering themselves to be professional creators. In fact, recent reports suggest that India is set to have the largest base of social media content creators globally, with the figure crossing 100 million this year. The industry is growing at a compounded annual growth rate of more than 32 per cent and is estimated to reach a value of over $24 billion by 2028.

We at RIGI firmly believe that creators are entrepreneurs who should be equipped to achieve financial independence while engaging in their passions. They should be able to monetise their skills and knowledge without technical and logistical hurdles. This is why we are focused on empowering them to monetise their content, build engaged communities, and establish themselves as entrepreneurs. Our technology plays a pivotal role in this by providing creators with the tools they need to thrive.

Our platform simplifies complex backend processes, allowing creators to focus solely on what they are best at – creating engaging content that they are passionate about. By continuing to create features that consolidate community engagement, content management, and monetisation with features like interactive feeds, chats, and custom leaderboards that foster a dynamic community, RIGI further allows creators to push boundaries, create the extraordinary and imagine the unimaginable. Since RIGI’s inception in 2021, over 15K creators across genres, including finance, lifestyle, gaming, and technology, have successfully shared their knowledge in their engaged communities using our suite of tools.

How do you view the current creator economy in India? What are the challenges that they typically face and how is your platform solving for these challenges?

The creator economy in India is a booming industry growing at a compound annual rate of 25%. These creators are fueling innovation and growth, but they face numerous logistic and technical challenges when it comes to monetising their skills and expertise. The problems are two-fold. Firstly, there are very limited avenues for content creators to be able to effectively monetise their content, and hence, be empowered to think of taking this up as a full-fledged professional choice. Secondly, in this rather limited avenue of monetary prospect for a creator, the most prominent solution at their disposal is to partner and collaborate with brands. However, ad revenue and brand integrations will only take creators so far, what will really come to play in the forefront is what the community, which the creator has built, thinks of that creator.

At RIGI, we address these challenges by providing the creators with an exclusive and holistic platform to cater to their community, thereby instilling confidence in them to grow their community further not just as content creators, but also as entrepreneurs and be in the driver’s seat when it comes to building a career as a ‘creatorpreneur’. To foster this, we offer a suite of unique monetisation tools, including hosting paid online courses, online webinars, and Telegram channels, to ensure creators can earn a living doing what they love. Under our easily accessible umbrella of products, each creator can easily customise the set of services they would want to share with their community. Apart from this, our white-labeled app/ community solution provides a dedicated space for creators to build communities along with monetising their content effectively. Hence, building a robust platform that could empower creators to grow a super loyal and faithful community, with the creators themselves being the brand is what we at RIGI pioneered in, and which has today become a pivotal point for India’s Creator Economy journey.

Could you throw some light on your business model in this regard?

Our mission at RIGI is to empower creators and help them navigate this dynamic macroeconomic environment that is the creator economy. Our creators are passionate about their work and we embody their passion. Hence, our business model is naturally designed to align with the success of creators. We charge a transaction fee as a modest percentage of earnings generated through our platform. This model enables us to provide our services efficiently, while creators benefit from a transparent and fair financial system.

How are you working towards attracting more creators to work with you? What is your marketing strategy?

At RIGI, our primary focus is to foster a thriving community of creators. Our marketing strategy is holistic and pivots on authenticity. Firstly, we’ve onboarded one of the most trusted figures in India, MS Dhoni, as our brand ambassador. His credibility significantly amplifies our outreach. Parallelly, we’ve championed the cause of creator education through expansive social media campaigns. This not only builds trust with potential users, but also establishes RIGI as a thought leader in the space.

The essence of the creator community lies in its interconnectedness. Recognising this, we’ve leveraged customer referrals; a successful creator’s endorsement is unmatched in its authenticity and impact. Moreover, our ad campaigns, featuring renowned personalities like Tanmay Bhat and Kusha Kapila, resonate with our target audience, providing them with relatable success stories.

However, we’re not just about the big names. Our approach is supplemented with consistent SEO efforts and tactical paid advertisements on social platforms, ensuring we maintain a persistent digital presence. Above all, we prioritise sharing real success stories from our platform. By celebrating the triumphs of our creators, we not only acknowledge their achievements, but also offer aspirants tangible proof of what’s possible with RIGI.

How do you plan to scale the business over a period of time? What is your vision for the company?

Since RIGI’s inception, our philosophy has been grounded in collaboration. We pride ourselves on fostering a symbiotic relationship with our creators, viewing them as invaluable co-builders. Their feedback doesn’t merely influence, but actively shapes our product roadmap, ensuring we evolve in tandem with their needs.

Our overarching vision is to establish RIGI as a one-stop hub, offering a gamut of tools with broad applicability. By focusing on tools with horizontal utility, we aim to cater to creators across various niches, ensuring that our platform remains versatile and adaptive.

In terms of scaling, our strategy is two-fold. Foremost, we’re committed to innovation, continuously expanding our product range to increase usability and meet the dynamic demands of the creator community. Concurrently, we’re doubling down on our engagement efforts to attract even more creators to our existing suite, ensuring that they benefit from the robust ecosystem we’re nurturing.

In essence, RIGI’s vision is to be the cornerstone of creator success, sculpted by the very creators we serve. 

How is RIGI planning to further grow its community and continue monetising in the midst of the SEBI regulations?

RIGI’s core principle is the empowerment of creators, with a strong commitment to ethical standards and regulatory compliance. We have always been diversifying our offerings to cater to a broader spectrum of creators and will continue to do so. Our suite of tools ensures that all, especially financial influencers, share knowledge legally and responsibly. Our May 29th Code of Conduct reiterates our dedication to transparency and integrity. We champion regulatory steps as pathways to a more transparent ecosystem. Furthermore, our collaboration with over 85 SEBI-registered RAs, witnessing an upward trend as more finfluencers obtain RA licenses, underscores our alignment with regulatory momentum.